Black Wing
by Shadow Master
Summary: BtVSMarvel Comics crossover. Xander was always a bit of an outcast as a member of the Scoobies but being part of the 'uncool' crowd was nothing compared to what he had to face now. Changed by a moment of heroism he must now leave Sunnydale and accept the
1. Default Chapter

"Black Wing" by Shadow Master aka Ryley Breen

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Disclaimer: I do not own anything from the BtVS universe as it is the property of Joss Whedon. Nor do I own anything that has appeared in or bears the Marvel Comics symbol or is considered their property. I am just letting my imagination run wild and so far it is coming up with some pretty decent stuff. In any case do not show up at my door looking for money because I barely have enough for myself much less any to pay off law suits or even hire a lawyer for a law suit.

Note: I am not sure where these flights of fancy are coming from but I've recently had a real itch to write some BtVS/Xander/Crossovers. Personally I blame it on my reading of the fanfics at 'Xander ) since there are many good crossover fanfics there with one Xander LaVelle Harris as the main character. Needless to say those inspiring crossovers mixed with my own demented imagination are making for some scary and yet interesting ideas. As with my most recent fanfic crossover idea whether this story progresses past chapter one to chapter two depends entirely on the response I get from the readers via their reviews. So if you like what you read then please review the fic or send me an email to let me know. Well enough of my prattle, here comes your worst nightmare…….

Black Wing 

**_Greyhound Bus, Headed East, Late Evening_**

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If I have offended any diety, god or goddess in this life or a previous one I just want to say that I am **so** sorry! Xander thought to himself as he watched the landscape pass by outside the window of the bus.

He had been asking himself some variation of that question for the past week and a half he had been on the road but had yet to receive any kind of answer much less a divine one. Still he was certain that the only way he could have had a streak of bad luck this bad was if he had royally pissed off someone with the ability to affect luck and chance. In any case it was a bit of bad luck that had delivered him into his current screwed up situation and the only reason he wasn't venting was because that was what some evil cult wanted. Wait! He was getting ahead of himself a bit there. This could all be said to have began about two months ago or so when he and the Scoobies had been in the middle of the whole Mayor snafu. Faith had just fallen to the dark side after accidentally killing the deputy mayor and her plan with the Mayor to drag Angel back into becoming Angelus had just fallen through. Not that that wasn't a happy moment for him that they had managed to put one over on the new (or old depending on your perspective) big bad on the block. What had been bugging him after that was that Buffy, Giles and Deadboy had kept the rest of the gang out of the loop on their little 'Angel-becoming-Angelus-but-not-really' plan. Logically he understood why they couldn't let the entire group in on the plan because they needed the group reactions to be believable and none of them were award-winning actors. He knew that now but at the time he had been angry and more than a little annoyed which unfortunately was what led him to his current situation. It had been about a week after Faith's betrayal had been made public that they had come across a rumor that a dig funded by the Mayor had uncovered something important. It was apparently so important that not twenty-four hours later the entire dig team disappeared without a trace and the local police declared the entire area around the dig site off limits to all but city personnel authorized by the Mayor himself.

Whatever else you can say about Dickie-boy he can't be all that bright. , Xander thought to himself with a small grin on his face, A group of people hired by him go missing and he didn't think that would not only catch their attention but also cause them to sneak into the restricted area to see what he was up to as well. 

That was exactly what they had done once all attempts by Willow with her computer and Buffy with Willy the snitch to find out what was going on had failed miserably. Apparently this situation was unique in that the Mayor was going to rather extreme methods to keep a tight lid on what had happened to the workers at the site and what it was that had Wilkens' knickers in a twist. Usually all the hygienic man did was just put the word out that something was his and all the demons were instructed to keep their distance. This usually led to the curious among both the humans and the demonic to try and sneak a peek at what was so interesting as well as the revving up of the local rumor mill. In this instance there had been nothing at all, not so much as a peep from Sunnyhell's demons or from the files of the human residents. That of course caused Giles to almost clean his glasses out of existence at the possibilities for apocalypse that bit of information inspired in the G-Man's imagination. In any case they had waited until midnight and then snuck into the site which was surprisingly vacant of guards of any type he had been able to see. Unfortunately he had walked right into an unseen one in the form of a magical barrier that gave anyone who had the misfortune of bumping into it a rather hefty electrical shock. He had fortunately been yanked back before he had been turned into a complete crispy critter but it did make the rest of the gang look at him as though he shouldn't be there. This had caused him to worry about a repeat of the whole 'stay out of slaying' thing they had tried a couple of weeks back. That coupled with the fact that Buffy had thought them so incapable of fooling Faith before she showed her true colors had made him determined to show that not only did he belong in the group but that he could pull the big save as well.

If I had known what was going to happen I would have just turn around and headed home that night but hey then that wouldn't have been me. he thought to himself as the events of that night played out before his eyes.

Once they had gotten past the barrier they had arrived at the main dig area not five minutes later to see what apparently there had been a party plan and yet again their invitations had gotten lost in the mail. At the center of the dig area an obviously artificial stone alter had been placed there and at the top was apparently what this who mess was about. It was a Japanese sword of some type that looked vaguely like your generic samurai sword but there were enough differences that it would not be mistaken even by a laymen as an actual samurai sword. For one thing it was made of a shiny black like metal that kinda looked like those black crystals he had seen in Giles' shop. I think they were called cassitorite crystals but then again they could be called Chris Rock crystals for all he knew about rocks. As well as the substance it seemed to be made of it looked too perfect in its construction, it looked as though it was all one piece rather than a metal blade attached to a handle. Lastly of course there was the fact that whenever he centered his concentration on it he got this feeling to the very center of his soul that could only be described as fear. The sword was just sitting there half encased in solid rock and it was giving him a distinct case of the heebie-jeebies right then like nothing the vampires or other demons had ever managed to do to him. He could tell by looking at the faces of the others that they were experiencing the same sensations he was and by the look on the former Watcher's face he knew more than the rest of them had and knew how bad this was for the world. He had explained that based on the arrangements such as the torches set at specific places around the alter and the fact that Richard Wilkens was dressed in some fancy robes that this was likely some sort of empowerment ritual.

Buffy had of course asked the obvious question of why the Mayor would need to do an empowerment ritual when he was already virtually invulnerable to all manner of attack. Giles could only speculate that the Mayor was intending to go back on some deals he made with certain powerful demons and needed the boost in power to kill them. In any case they could all agree that whatever his intentions there was no way they could allow this ritual to succeed. Unfortunately it was right about then that the shit hit the fan and the Mayor proved to be a lot smarter than they had originally thought. All at once at least twenty vampires appeared from the darkness led by Faith and before any of them knew it a full-fledged smackdown was in progress. Needless to say none of them were enjoying themselves as they each had roughly three vampires a piece to deal with and Buffy dealing with the bulk of them all at once. Faith surprisingly stayed out of the fighting preferring apparently to stand guard near the alter next to the Mayor who looked as though he was pray in some sort of dead language in front of it. He wasn't able at the time to discern anything more as a vampire managed to score a lucky shot and send him to the ground. It had been a hectic couple of minutes but he had eventually been able to stake one of the vampires he had been paired off with and drive the other two temporarily away with two crosses in either hand. That momentary victory however was foreshadowed by the fact that he sword at the head of the alter was beginning to glow a distinctly unfriendly color. Where before it had simply been a weird sword embedded in solid rock it was now a weird sword embedded in rock that seemed to be burning at the center of a black inferno. As if someone had come along and soaked the sword in gasoline and then tossed a match with a black flame at it everything within two feet of the sword was ablaze. It had been then that he had known that whatever the Mayor had been planning it was about to reach its climax which was certainly not of the good.

He could see Buffy off to his right trying to fight her way to the alter past her group of vamps but Faith also had taken notice of this and was moving to intercept her rival. Xander knew that Buffy could handle the vamps easy enough but by the time she managed to K.O Faith chances were that the Mayor would have completed whatever he was doing. Taking a look around he found that Willow and Oz were fighting back to back trying to keep their vamps off of each other while Giles had resorted to using the cross and stake combo. None of them were free at the moment and by the time they were it would be too late which left him in the unenviable role of being their last hope. That was **definitely** a sure sign that the world was **doomed** as he had heard Giles remark a few times when things had gotten really tense. Add to that the fact that he had still felt determined to prove himself and he didn't hesitate to make a run for the sword. He had deduced with his own usual form of logic that perhaps if he could grab the sword and run like mad away from here then the Mayor wouldn't get his power up. It was not the most well thought out plan, heck he had determined that it was a hop-skip and a jump from insanity later on once he had a chance to think it over but at the time it seemed like the thing to do. When he had reached the alter he noticed that ol' Richie Wilkens seemed completely oblivious to his presence and he figured that whatever ritual was going on it was taking all the warlock's concentration to perform. That of course was fine with him as it meant no uber-whammy in the chest and gave him a chance to do his hero thing. Looking at the sword encased in ebon flame he had then tried to determine the safest way to get it without reducing his hands to burning stumps. Finally he settled on taking one of the heavy looking metal poles with a torch placed at the top and began to slam it into the rock just below the sword itself. He figured that if he could break away some of the rock it would be easier to wrench the sword out and make off with it. His machinations did not go unnoticed however as he could hear Faith yelling at him to stop and trying to get away from Buffy to do just that but thankfully the Buffster was able to keep her occupied. That of course did not stop Slayer one from yelling the same things about stopping what he was doing and getting away from the seemingly uber-powerful sword.

Needless to say in the future I promise to listen to the hot warrior women when they tell me that hitting the stone encasing a black sword is a bad idea. Xander thought to himself as he closed his eyes remembering what happened next.

He had been on his fifth strike when on the down swing the slab of stone he had been aiming at fell away to the ground exposing the side of the sword beneath it. He of course hadn't noticed this until the end of the pole was about an inch away from making contact with the sword. The two objects had hit with a boom but when Xander had finally taken notice of what he had done all he could do was watch as a spider-web crack began to form in the sword making him believe it really was made of crystal. Afterwards however he would firmly say that it had been made of pain since as soon as the cracks in the sword reached the top it shattered with the force of TNT. It had almost knocked him off his feet but he had been able to use the pole to keep himself upright and no more than a few steps further away from where he had been. However due to that proximity he was soon hit with the full force of the black flames as they seemed to leap at him from both where it had been covering the rock and from the fragments of the sword on the ground. They struck him center mast and instead of burning through him like he had thought it would it seemed to merge with him, to enter and course through his body. The part that was not of the good was the fact that it was not being particularly gentle about how it did this as his mind was overwhelmed with pain unlike anything he had ever experienced. Nothing his abusive parents had ever done to him nor the demons he had helped to fight alongside Buffy had ever caused him pain on this scale. It felt as though every single cell in his body was having something burned into it with all the subtlety of a hammer between the eyes. He didn't know exactly how long he had stood there rigid as a flag-pole screaming in agony but he did know that he eventually had lost consciousness since blackness soon obscured his vision.

He had woken before noon that same day inside of Giles' apartment with the faces the entire gang looking down at him with relief first on their faces that he was apparently alive and then shock at something else. He of course had only taken a brief notice at their reactions as the aches and pains of his body quickly demanded his attention which he voiced with a pronounced 'ow' as he tried to sit up. When Giles had attempted to ease him back down onto the couch, it was then that he noticed something had changed. For one his sense of touch seemed to be much more acute then he remembered because not only did he feel the pressure on his chest but he also felt as though he could feel the blood coursing through the Watcher's hand. He could smell an overwhelming combination of smells, some stronger while others seemed to stay in the background at the periphery of it all. What astounded him the most however was his sight, it was like he had been living all his life with a slightly transparent cloth covering his eyes and it was finally gone. Everything seemed to be hyper-detailed and all he seemed to need to do to examine something sitting in the distance was focus for a moment. Taking all these changes in was incredible but it was quickly eclipsed by not knowing what else about him might have been changed by his rather foolish attempt at heroics. It had been then that he had remembered the look of shock in their eyes when he had woken up and quickly deduced that it had to have been at the sight of his eyes. After all he certainly hadn't felt anything change after he had woken up and his eyes would have been the only things that might have been hidden while he was unconscious. Looking quickly around for a reflective surface he soon found one in Giles' very unused television screen and what he saw when he looked at the glass surface almost made him faint right there.

His eyes.

The rest of his face was the same but in place of the deep brown eyes were golden lizard like eyes with vertical black slits at the center rather than the circular ones he had been used to all his life up until now. After a five minute panic attack during which he discovered that his eyes seemed to glow when he was agitated he calmed down and it was agreed that this called for a research party to find out what exactly had happened to him. Fortunately the ritual had happened on a Friday which meant that they had the entire weekend to focus on looking through G-Man's dusty old tomes for answers. Xander had decided to stay at the Watcher's place since his even the drunks that were his parents would notice his eyes if he went home. After two full days of research they had precious little to show for their efforts, just a short passage in one book and a drawing of the sword in another with a small caption at the bottom. Apparently the sword was called 'The Blade of Kung Lung' who according to the passage in the dustier book as some sort of ancient uber-big bad from China. He was apparently a forgotten fifth Dragon King that because of some event or action he committed was slain and an effort was made to remove him from all knowledge whether it be physical or mental. All written records were destroyed and the people of the time were forbidden from ever mentioning him ever again. The only reason why the gang had been able to find this much was because an oracle during the middle ages had foretold of his rebirth through a sword crafted for him shortly before his death. Since the sword had been sought by forces of both good and evil for various reasons ranging from the sword's destruction to bringing about the black dragon lord's rebirth.

Needless it did nothing for his peace of mind to know that there was some dead dragon king inside of him much less that when the Big Bad was strong enough he would take over his body. Giles tried to comfort him by stating that since the ritual the Mayor had been performing had been disrupted by his interference it was possible that only part of the Dragon King's essence had been placed in him. If that was the case then he could fight against it and likely retain control if he tried hard enough. As for the eyes Giles had said that there were a number of concealment spells and glamours they could use to hide them and make them look normal to others. Xander gave an emphatic no to this. Magic was responsible for his current condition so there was no way that he was going to let more come his way anytime soon. After all with so little information on what this Kung Lung could do he wasn't about to allow anyone to mix mystery magic A with dragon mojo B. In the end they had settled on him wearing some dark glasses over his eyes that made it near impossible for others to see his eyes. Apparently Giles had worn them when he was younger after one of his ill planned experimentations in the dark arts had left his eyes sensitive to light of any kind. If anyone outside of their group asked why he was wearing them they would say that he had been helping Oz set up some lights for Dingoes Ate My Baby and one of them had exploded in his face. If anyone questioned why he had not gone to the hospital they would say that Giles had experienced something similar when he was young and that only a few months with the glasses on would be needed. It was true that this had only been a stalling tactic at best but it would do until they could find something better or at least until after graduation.

I should have known something would go wrong eventually when it started off without a hitch! Xander thought as he avoided the gaze of another passenger on the bus.

For the next few weeks everyone outside the Scoobies seemed satisfied with the explanation concerning his unique eye wear. Even Snyder thought that it was perfectly within the norm for the 'slacker Harris' to injure himself but still didn't let up on the detentions and tests. Not that he had been expecting any different but there had been a momentary fantasy of him automatically graduating and not having to do anymore school work. Things had progressed and aside from a few more encounters with the Mayor which surprisingly did not entail revenge on one Zeppo for messing up the ritual they finally made it to graduation. In keeping with the Xander type of luck he had been known to have it was during their battle with the newly snake-ified Mayor that his worst fear had happened. Once conventional armaments had been used up and handling Wilkens fell to Buffy he had gone with the rest of the students to mop up what was left of the vampires that had apparently been assigned the task of keeping 'dinner' from getting away. He had managed to stake four vamps with surprising ease before one had succeeded in kicking him in the face knocking him to the ground. Unfortunately it also had the side effect of breaking his glasses into itty-bitty pieces allowing anyone who wasn't occupied at the time to see his dragon eyes. This caused some to back away from him while others regarded him the same way that they looked at the vampires currently attacking them. For some this had meant death as they had let down their guard allowing a vampire to snap their necks or drain them. By the end of the battle however there were enough who had seen still living to form a decent mob but the most surprising part was when the usual case of Sunnydale denial didn't set in. The surprise only heightened when instead of regarding him as some kind of demon they called him something else that none of the Scooby gang had taken into account.

"MUTIE!! MUTIE!! Get the MUTIE!! He was probably in on the whole thing!!"

Needless to say when the crowd of twenty or more people ranging from classmates to parents who had been in attendance surged towards him he had hauled ass out of there. Knowing the back streets and lesser-known short cuts in Sunnydale he had managed to lose the mob after an hour and eventually made his way back to Giles' apartment. Giles and the others showed up ten minutes later relieved that he had managed to escape the mob but that gave way to concern as to what they would do with Xander's newfound problem. In all their planning after the FUBARed ritual they had never considered the possibility that the Zeppo would be considered a mutant if anyone saw his eyes. It wasn't as if they were ignorant about the existence of mutants or anything, one could hardly turn on a TV without some news station or program doing something on the 'Mutant Menace'. It was simply that despite the fact that mutants were becoming more and more common there had never been one in Sunnydale that they could recall. Being a relatively small town it was difficult if not impossible to keep a secret of that sort from a neighbor or classmate. Now though a portion of the town's population believed Xander to be a mutant and the information would no doubt spread fast. By tomorrow evening everyone who mattered would know and there would be no place Xander could show his face with the exception of perhaps Willy's and that just made the teen's skin crawl.

In the days that followed Xander stayed hidden out in the Watcher's apartment while the others tried to carry on as if nothing had changed. This proved to be difficult as the news soon reached Joyce as well as Willow's parents and their reactions were only slightly better than the main population's response. From Joyce it had initially been shock but then Buffy had given her mother the condensed version of the night they had crashed Mayor Wilkens' ritual and she had seen reason. In possession of all the facts she had been completely supportive and had offered to give him a job at her art gallery if he couldn't find one elsewhere. Willow's parents on the other hand fell back on religion which along with most of the country saw mutants as spawns of Satan which meant while they did not outright forbid the red haired wicca from seeing him they acted very disappointed when she did. Basically it was the same reaction one would get if discovered smoking weed or coming home drunk a number of times if not a bit worse. Xander's own parents were openly calling him a 'freak' and a 'mutie' and seemed all to eager to place themselves on the anti-mutant bandwagon. Not that the brown-haired teen really expected them to suddenly become supportive and protective of him but it still hurt when one couldn't count on family.

The toughest part for the gang came in the form of hate mail being delivered to their mail-boxes and the looks that they all got from the rest of the citizenry whenever they walked down the street. Stores where Buffy and Willow used to buy stuff from blatantly gave them bad service if not outright refusing to acknowledge them at all. While it had not gotten to the stone throwing stage with them yet it was a distinct possibility the more things went on. They all tried to put a brave face on and act like everything was normal (or as normal as Sunnydale ever got) but that all stopped two weeks prior to his getting on a bus out of town. Willow had been walking to the local magic shop to get some ingredients for a spell she hoped would make everyone forget he was a 'mutant' when she had overheard a couple of her former high school class mates taking. They were talking the usual anti-mutant jargon about mutants in general and specifically him but when they mentioned Ms. Calender's name that was when Willow's attention was really attracted. Apparently Ms. Calender's death which had for the past year and a half been labeled the result of a of 'gang members on PCP' was now being pinned on him. The suggestions went from 'I bet it was the mutie who really killed her' to 'I bet she was shagging the mutie' and ended with 'maybe Calender was a mutant'. With every remark and slur Willow had gotten more and more furious until she had exploded and proceeded to tell them off with sharpness of tongue that surprised even her. The three guys who had been talking apparently took exception to some 'mutie-lover' talking like that to them and proceeded to gather around her blocking off her escape. Noticing this Willow tried to keep up a brave front but as the danger increased so did her fear but never once did she take back the things she had said or stop supporting her best friend and mentor. Her loyalty came at a cost though as she was found ten minutes later by Buffy a bloody mess on the street with her clothes torn and bruises everywhere. Knowing that she couldn't count on any paramedics to come to their aide she had called her mother and within twenty minutes Buffy was carrying her friend into the hospital's front door. It had taken some very sharp words from both Buffy and Joyce to get them to move like they should but eventually they did their jobs and wheeled Willow on a gurney into the emergency room.

He had arrived with the others ten minutes later and didn't care one bit at the looks he was receiving or some of the slurs that were sent his way. All that mattered was that the girl who had been his friend for as long as he could remember was seriously hurt and needed him to be there. Of course this didn't mean that he wouldn't take some precautions such as wearing new black sunglasses to hide his eyes. He didn't want to do anything that would get him thrown out of there or endanger Willow so he dug deep within himself and promised himself that he would retain his cool no matter what. They waited for almost an hour before a doctor approached them to talk about Willow's condition. The doctor seemed open enough and didn't give off two many noticeable signs concerning Xander's status in town but that was the only good thing. Willow had suffered numerous bruises and cuts as a result of the assault as well as a broken arm but that wasn't the worst of it. The wicca had also received several hard blows to the back, some by blunt objects while others were obviously caused by feet and fists. The doctor had presumed that Willow had gone into a fetal position to protect herself and inadvertently exposed her back to attack. They could all tell that the doctor was beating around the bush about something and it was Buffy that finally pinned him down with the question 'what are you saying?'. The answer they got hurt them all but for the one that had known her the longest it almost destroyed him.

"I am afraid that your friend suffered severe spinal injuries." , the doctor replied with sorrow clearly in his voice, "She is now paralyzed from the waist down."

All Xander had been able to do was stagger over to one of the chairs in the waiting room and sit down before he broke down crying. It was all his fault no matter how his friends tried to reassure him that the blame lay elsewhere and the guilt slammed down on him like a mountain. It didn't matter whether or not he was there to cause it or prevent it the fact that he existed was enough to place the blame on his shoulders. It had been bad enough back when he had been normal and just a liability in battle but now they suffer by mere association with him. Who knew who would be next to suffer because of him? He sat in the waiting room for what seemed like hours completely oblivious to everything but his pain and guilt. It only got worse when Willow's parents finally arrived and were informed of their daughter's condition. Her mother went out of her mind with grief and eventually had to be sedated lest she harm herself or others. The father however reacted very differently, not with anything physical but the glare alone was enough to triple the pain that Xander felt at his role in Willow's current state. Under such torment he doubted that his friends could blame him for bolting from the hospital and disappearing into the night. He didn't really have any clear recollection of what happened during his aimless running only that he ran until he could move no more. Surprisingly he had found himself at the ruins of the high school where all his current troubles had come from. If he had never been ousted as a 'mutant' during the Mayor's failed ascension the gang would not be considered pariahs by the town and Willow wouldn't be paralyzed because of him.

It had been a week before he had gotten up the courage to re-enter the hospital with the intention of visiting Willow who Giles had told him was apparently out of the woods for the most part. Buffy had gone with him and promised to stand up for him even in front of Willow's parents if need be should someone start something with him. When he had finally entered Willow's room the sight that greeted him almost made him bolt once again as his memory of Willow the last time he saw her met the image before him now. Willow lay on the bed with all sorts of medical equipment hooked into her which only added to his ideas of how badly injured she was at the moment. What really hit him though was the assortment of bruises and stitches that marred her once blemish free face. It had been no secret especially after the fluke he and Willow had had when they had been abducted by Spike that he had feelings for her that might go beyond the close friendship they had. He wasn't as shallow as to like her for her looks but to see her like this and to imagine the emotional scarring that would no doubt result from this hurt him. He knew how much something like this could affect a person from watching the change come over his mother as his father had sunk into drunkenness. While it usually took time and more beatings to take someone strong and change them into a shell like his mother he still knew that it would take Willow time to get over this if she ever did.

As soon as he approached the bed and sat down in the chair next to it Willow seemed to feel his presence and woke up turning to look at him. It was then that he noticed that her right eye was still swollen shut and likely would take a couple more weeks before it would be back to normal. He had tried to keep things cheery like he always did when things got bad for the gang but he could tell that she was seeing right through this defense of his. He should have known that he would be able to read him as easily as he was always able to read her. His cheery resolve destroyed he started into his own version of Willow-babble telling her how sorry he was and how it was all his fault. Throughout this he was determined not to cry as he knew that it would only get Willow even more worked up and she needed all her strength to get better. When he had said all he could they sat in silence for awhile before Willow used her one good hand to lift his head up so that their eyes met. Once she was sure that his head would stay at that level she reached up and removed his sunglasses although for a moment he almost tried to stop her but could not believing her fragile. When his dragon eyes were exposed and looking into her eyes she said that it wasn't his fault but the fault of those intolerant bigots who had beat her. She had said that he was and always would be his friend and that he shouldn't dare to think anything else with her resolve face on. He let out a small chuckle as even through the mess of bruises and stitches he could still make out her patented 'resolve' face that he had always been powerless against. A warm spot filled his troubled heart as his bestest bud reaffirmed that she would always be there for him and to indicate likewise he took her good hand in his and gave her his best lopsided grin.

Just as he was about to engage her in some idle chit-chat her parents entered in the room and saw him sitting next to their little girl. The father's reaction was pretty much the same as before but the mother on the other hand did a complete one eighty and lunged at him with fury and hate in her eyes. He got up from the chair in surprise and tried to back away but before he could get very far Willow's mom grabbed the metal tray that Willows food had been resting on and slammed it into the side of his head. Surprise was what allowed the blow to hit as he could have easily dodged the attack if he had wanted to but he had to admit that a part of him felt that she deserved to take a few wacks at him. Again and again she hit him until he was sure that the tray most certainly had a few serious dents in it. All the while he could hear Willow screaming at her mother to stop and her Father doing likewise if with slightly less enthusiasm. It was only when he detected with his enhanced senses that Willow was getting dangerously excited by this display that he decided that he had to get out of there. Dodging a blow from Willow's mother he made for the door and left the hospital as quickly as he could. He had heard from Buffy that Willow had been sedated soon after his exit and was being treated with a light sedative in order to keep her from exerting herself like that again until she was stronger.

Of course Buffy, Oz and Giles were hardly trouble free on their own fronts either as they had tried once Willow had regained consciousness to get a description and name for those responsible for her current condition. It had been hard for the wicca to speak of the traumatic incident but once the names of her former classmates came out both Buffy and Giles had gone looking for them. The local cops came a few hours later but neither the Slayer or the Watcher trusted the village idiots know as the S.P.D to do their jobs right. A few trashed bars and some aggressive negotiating later they had managed to find the ones responsible and despite Buffy's inclination to visit some payback on them Giles had persuaded her to let the law handle them. Unfortunately it had been clear over the next few days despite the fact that Willow and her parents were willing to press charges against the boys that both the police and the local judge were aiming for the most lenient penalty they could get away with. Some of the officers who came by to get statements for the trial seemed to trying to come up with any plausible excuse to get the boys a reduced sentence. They even went so far as to imply that Willow had tried to blackmail the boys with death at Xander's hands if they didn't do what she said.

Xander could feel it all coming down around him, his best friend was paralyzed and beaten and it looked as though the entire town had turned against him and those he called friends. Finally it came to the point that he was no longer willing to put his friends' lives in any more danger because of how the people of Sunnydale felt about him. With the excuse that he was feeling tired and wanted to get some sleep he had slipped into the room at Giles' apartment that had been his since his transformation and started packing. He threw his knapsack onto the bed and began to fill it with various articles of clothing making sure that he had at least four days worth. With clothes packed he then took his life savings, which he had withdrawn from the bank weeks ago after the questionable glares he had got from customers standing behind him at the instant teller, and stuffed it into a side pocket. Once he had packed everything he was going to need he opened the window opposite the door to the room and leapt to the ground with surprising agility.

That of course led him to where he was now, on a bus across the country doing his best not to attract attention to himself or the fact that he wore glasses 24-7. He hadn't had a particular destination in mind when he arrived at the bus station but when he had looked up at the TV they had hanging from the ceiling and saw what was being reported he had been inspired. The reporter had been talking about the latest super battle in New York City between the Avengers, the Fantastic Four, various X-teams and some powerful entity that called itself Onslaught. Apparently there was widespread damage across the entire city and that all of the heroes with the exception of the mutant teams had apparently given their lives to end the threat. In this report he believed he had found the perfect place to disappear, a place with so many people that one more or less would not matter. Add to that the fact that he would more than likely be able to find a job in construction there and his destination was decided. It had taken almost half his savings to buy a ticket that would take him that far but he was fairly certain that he would be able to find some obscure job to take care of that problem soon after he arrived.

Now as the scenery passed by his window in the darkness of the night he wondered what the future held for him in New York.

Hopefully it wouldn't be any weirder than Sunnydale. Xander thought to himself before nodding off a few minutes later.


	2. If I can make it here I can make it anyw...

New York City, Four Months Later 

**__**

**__**

One of these days I'm going to have to learn to keep my big yap shut! Xander said scolding himself before leaving the protection of one car before diving behind another one.

No more than a second after he had left his previous cover than it was hit with a powerful energy blast that caused the automobile to explode in a fiery pyrotechnic display. It was times like these that he remembered the infamous thought he had traveling on the bus to New York and each time he wished he hadn't said anything at all. He had wasn't sure why he had thought such a thing after his numerous experiences with the supernatural in Sunnydale. He supposed he thought that just because he was no longer near Boca Del Inferno that nothing hellmouthy would happen to him and perhaps his poor luck with the supernatural would finally come to an end. Had he not been so fatigued at the time he would have realized that ol' Sunnyhell didn't corner the market in weirdness since New York City seemed to have its own brand of weirdness. That was the situation he now found himself in as some idiot with metal armor and laser blasters mounted on each wrist thought it might be a good idea to rob a bank. Personally he couldn't care less about the costumed crooks that based their operations in this city but this crook had decided to make an explosive exit right in the path of the bus he had been riding in to go to work. Needless to say concrete debris and overturned cars make for one helluva road block and some creeps just couldn't resist attacking a vehicle loaded with innocent bystanders. He had managed to help get the other passengers off before the bus was destroyed but now he and many others were forced to play hide and go seek until the police or some super hero arrived. The villain who had robbed the bank seemed to like playing target practice with anyone who tried to run away and had already killed four people. Why he wasn't making his getaway with the sacks of cash he had acquired was a mystery but the Zeppo felt it was safe to answer with one of two possibilities. Either he was supremely confident that no one could stop him with the majority of the city's defenders dead or he was supremely stupid and was just doing this for kicks.

Looking down at his watch he cursed almost out loud as he saw how much time he had left until the start of his shift. He had a rough time for the first week or so trying to find work when he arrived in New York mostly because most of the construction companies needed a full background check. He had known about this in advance from the few times he had tried to pick up a part time job in the hopes of earning enough money to move out of his parents' place. Unfortunately because of his newly outed status as a 'mutant' he couldn't just give his usual name and background information for fear that he was handing it over to one of those F.O.H bigots that had been making so much fuss lately. From what little he had overheard before actively trying to block it out they had chapters throughout the United States and in some nations worldwide. Some members were easy to spot since they seemed to adopt a militaristic appearance in terms of how they dressed and cut their hair. Others though were apparently convinced to be sleeper agents stationed at certain places with orders to report any suspected mutants to their immediate superior. These agents were harder to pick out and it would only take one to make it impossible for him to earn a decent living in this city to say nothing of just staying alive. In any case the moment any interviewer asked for more than the basic information like a social security number or a driver's license he just said he was going to look elsewhere but in a way that wouldn't arouse suspicion. Eventually he had managed to get a minimum wage job working at a Café/Diner as a 'java jockey' and had been doing his best to do such a good job that no one would think to look beyond the surface. Unfortunately if he didn't find some way to get past this walking tin can soon he was going to be late and if there was one thing that Shirley didn't like it was tardiness. She had been more accommodating in the aftermath of the whole Onslaught incident as the numerous destroyed Sentinels and demolished buildings had played havoc with everyone's ability to get around but even that would stretch only so far.

Poking his head slightly over the top of the car he had chosen to hide behind he only had a moment to look around before he was forced to duck back down and hide to keep from being spotted by the walking trash can. Given how trigger happy the moron seemed to be it wouldn't take much to get him to fire off another few shots and at the moment he seemed to be searching for hiding places where he knew people were cowering. That would seem to hint that as long as he kept his own location a secret there was a chance that the idiot would pass him by and he could get out of here in one piece. However such thoughts immediately impacted on his overgrown White Knight impulses which was kinda funny knowing that he was possessed by the essence/spirit of a black dragon. Still it was enough to keep him from bolting and instead caused him to try and put together a plan of action to somehow slam the brakes on this little display. There was an obvious solution that always seemed to pop into his head at this point in time but he forced it to the side knowing that it was just ol' Kung Lung trying to work his freedom. He wasn't in contact with the Dragon King like another mind in his head or telepathically with another person. It was more like every once and awhile images, ideas and emotions would suddenly pop into existence and if he wasn't careful his body would actually act on this input. At the moment Kung Lung seemed to be favoring burning the fool to a crisp for daring to threaten his life but Xander knew the ulterior motive inherent in this idea.

During a few of the more dangerous close calls he had experienced since leaving Sunnydale he had begun to exhibit abilities that went beyond the glowy eyes and enhanced physical prowess. In some cases it was something small like being able to influence the behavior of certain reptiles and lizards like when he had been in the bible belt and needed to distract an unruly band of parishioners with a sudden gathering of snakes. In the more flamboyant cases however he had actually cast a black flame from his mouth like a real dragon but unlike natural flame these flames burned **everything** to the ground. Steel, stone, glass and just about everything else he could think of seemed to burn into some kind of ash when it was hit with the pitch black flames regardless of resistant it might be to normal flame. Normally he would do an Oz and say 'cool' but the drawbacks to using this ability only caused his fear of his supposed destiny as Kung Lung's new body to heighten. For after he had used this flame and gotten a look at himself in the mirror he found that scales had actually appeared in splotches on his face. Black scales that were slightly reflective but also covered about a third of his face had scared the hell out of him to the point where he had closed his eyes and willed for all he was worth to make them go away. It had seemed like hours but in about fifteen minutes after he had shut them he opened his eyes to find that the scales had disappeared entirely. Still he just had something happen to him that he did not understand and so he did the same thing he always did in situations like these.

He called Giles.

After an entire night of searching through books the Watcher didn't have many answers but he did have some and there were not of the good. The best G-Man could figure was that because he disrupted the ritual much of Kung Lungs power was lost and he likely would have died had he not infused himself into Xander. While this allowed the Zeppo control over his body and some of the abilities of Kung Lung the more he used those supernatural abilities the faster the Dragon King's essence would spread and take over. It was like he had a disease and exerting himself would only make it spread faster while making him weaker in the process. Different abilities caused the 'infection' to spread at different rates but using the 'breath of fire' technique as he had come to call it was the best way to help it along big time. He had used it a total of three times since he had become the vessel for the Dragon King and he had discovered much to his discouragement that it was harder to make the scales disappear each time. He had no illusions that he would eventually be forced to use the more risky powers in the future so he had asked Giles to look for a means to slow down or stop the essence's progress. He had heard nothing until about a week after his arrival when he had slipped into one of those computer cafes to check his email address. Apparently there was an ancient poison said to be effective in killing dragons and that the Watcher believed if he diluted the poison with water it would be enough in conjunction with his own will to keep Kung Lung in check. He had even recommended a guy who could sell him the stuff at a reasonable price in Greenwich village who the Watcher apparently used as a tertiary source of demonic information when all other sources had been tapped out. This hadn't filled Xander with joy since he had no idea why the man would be G-man's option of last resort but nothing he had dreamed up had come up even close to reality.

Who knew that Giles would actually know the freakin' Sorcerer Supreme on a level to actually poke him for information when needed! Xander thought to himself as he remembered the first time he had met the crimson caped man.

He had just stood at the foot of the stairs looking at the man who was the absolute end all be all of magic that would have left Willow a babbling mess if she had been there with him. It had taken a few repetitions of asking him if he was Xander Harris before he had actually responded with intelligible words but after Stephen Strange had actually made with the funny it went smoother from then on out. He had received a supply of the poison and in exchange for being available for a few simple delivery jobs and some house sitting when he was away on business he could look forward to a supply of more in the future. It had taken a week before his mind had snapped back to normal but truth be told his mind still went a little fuzzy whenever he thought about the fact that he had met and now knew the most powerful human sorcerer on the planet. Still he had been talking off an on with Stephen since then and he had learned enough to keep his inner dragon in check while living a semi-normal life. The Doc had been unable to do anything about his eyes though stating that it would forever be a sign of what and who he carried within him. The Zeppo had been less than pleased at this but he had learned to deal and never went anywhere without his dark glasses making sure that they were secure on his head to insure that they didn't get knocked off his face.

While the flashback is nice it still doesn't help me solve my current situation. he thought to himself with the voice of Giles chastising him for getting distracted during a particularly serious situation.

He would not use his black fire to kill or even distract this armor bank robber but as he peeked over the top of the car he saw that the guy had turned his back to him. Knowing that this was likely the only chance was going to have to end this even remotely well he leapt onto the trunk of the car he had been hiding behind and used it to springboard him even higher. For a moment as he saw his ascent go slightly past what he had originally intended and thought that perhaps one of his famous screw ups was in the works but thankfully some higher power took pity on him and nudged him back down. With his momentary fear gone he watched as he descended down towards the robber and got ready to give this guy one helluva headache. When he reached the point when the bottom of his feet were about a foot higher in the air than the guy's head he extended his right arm out and grabbed the guy by the head holding on for all he was worth. Then with all the flair and skill of a professional wrestler he slammed the crook's head straight into the pavement with all the force of a small car propelling it forward in terms of speed. That was why he had used the springboard for some extra height, he needed it so when he began to plummet back to the ground that his body would pick up enough speed so that when he transferred it to the crook he would hit the ground with enough force to knock him out helmet or not helmet. It was one of the few facts that he remembered from school that an object falling from a certain height would maintain a speed of roughly fifty miles per hour unless acted on by outside forces. Therefore when he slammed the crook headfirst into the pavement he transferred the speed to him thus making his landing only slightly painful.

However he did not have enough time to rest or recover from the temporarily foolish move as he had to get out of sight before anyone got a good look at his face. A citizen taking on an armed and armored bank robber was weird enough but add that to a person jumping high into the air and coming back down without breaking a few bones just screamed 'not human' and all too often 'mutie' to most people. Turning to the right he leapt onto one of the few remaining intact cars and mimicked his earlier move of using it to propel him higher into the air but this time it was to reach the rooftop of a nearby building. He managed to clear the roof by about of foot but when he landed he took off at a run trying to put as much distance between him and the scene of the crime as possible. Three rooftop jumps later and a rough landing in an alleyway he stopped to catch his breath and take stock of what that stunt had cost him. Taking a pocket mirror he had 'borrowed' a lady's purse after first seeing the black scales he brought it up to his face to inspect it for changes. He was relieved to find that while there were some splotches of black beginning to appear these areas had yet to be transformed into scales so it required only minimal concentration for him to force his skin back into its uniform human pink. After a check of all of his other visible body parts that weren't covered by clothes he sighed in relief that he hadn't grown a tail nor that his fingers hadn't developed claws. When he looked at his watch though his panic shot through the roof as he realized what time it was and just how much trouble of the normal kind he was in right then.

"Man! Shirley is going to have my ass for this!" he exclaimed before taking off at just under the maximum running speed for a human.

The Daily Grind, Five Minutes Past The Start Of Xander's Shift 

"Kevin Lancaster! Your sir are **late**!" yelled Shirley the owner and manager of the small café/diner as Xander emerged from the kitchen to the area behind the counter.

"I know Shirl' but you know how it is with the clean up from that Onslaught mess and then there was apparently some robbery that had traffic backed up for blocks!" Xander "Kevin Lancaster" Harris said as he tried to come up with something to prevent his boss from firing him.

"I might have been willing to accept that if this had been the first time you had been late or maybe even the second time but this is the fourth time you have shown up late since I hired you!" , Shirley stated with a more controlled anger in her voice, "Give me one good reason why I shouldn't fire you right now!"

For the next few moments Xander's mind raced as he tried to come up with something that would meet his boss' requirements and save his ass. Looking all around the café he spotted his fellow java jockey Ben Reilly giving him an amused but not evil grin which was in perfect keeping with his trickster personality. Ben had been a good friend to him since he had been hired on and they had often bounced wise cracks, one liners and jokes off one another before using them on anyone else. After all they were both known as being pretty funny guys on their own but once they had been able to work on their material with one another virtually everything that had come out of their mouths were winners. Unfortunately it seemed as though the blonde son of a gun wasn't about to risk his own job in an attempt to help Xander keep his and was definitely enjoying seeing him try to think his way out of it. Letting his gaze drift a little more his eyes came to rest of Buzz who was a regular at the Daily Grind almost to the point of being an expected decoration or fixture to others who ate here. Kinda like the way people who watch the Simpsons always expect to see Barney Gumble sitting on a stool at Moe's Tavern whenever a scene takes place there. Unfortunately the man only raised an eyebrow at his predicament which of course left him to look back into the waiting eyes of Shirley making him decide to go for broke and hope for the best.

"Well, because I'm a hard worker despite the fact that I am occasionally late, I can mix a pretty stiff drink for you whenever you need one after your ex shows up and .." , Xander said as his mind scrambled for the final reason, ".. since you hired me on more people have been coming in to eat if for no other reason than to hear Ben and me trade quips and jokes between customers?"

For a moment Shirley just stood there looking at him with the same silently fuming look that had been on her face since he had first entered her line of sight. The seconds ticked by and each one seemed to sound like an echoing footstep in his ears as he waited for what would either be just your standard day or the first day of his unemployment. The rest of the people who were frequent visitors to the Daily Grind and those that worked there watched in anticipation to learn the fate of someone they had come to enjoy seeing when they came here. Finally Xander could notice the first sign of her answer as Shirley began to shake slightly but whether this was a good shake or a bad one was unknown. For all he knew she was about to explode in his face and tell him to get the hell out of her café before she grabbed a frying pan and slammed it upside his head. However the signs became more positive as he saw the corners of her mouth begin to flicker upward briefly again and again as though she was trying to keep her face in it's current arrangement. Her resolve failed though as what began as a light giggle quickly developed into a full out belly laugh as his attempt at humor with a few others joining in. Once she had managed to compose herself she looked at him and shook her head ruefully at his response before letting him know her decision.

"Well I guess we can't deprive our paying customers of their entertainment or Ben of his sparring partner so I guess I can let this slide just this once." Shirley said as if he had given her a perfectly reasonable response.

Xander sighed in relief at the fact that he still had a job and didn't need to look for another any time soon.

"However you still need to make up all the time you missed so far somehow." , Shirley stated halting the snoopy dance in his head, "Fortunately Reilly's asked for a day off tomorrow to help his cousin Peter clean up their house a bit so you'll be taking two back to back shifts tomorrow from nine to midnight."

"What!" Xander exclaimed as he tried to picture himself pulling a fifteen hour shift and was barely able to do so thanks to taking his dragon given stamina.

"Don't worry I'll give you breaks every now and again to eat and take a breather." , Shirley said in an attempt to compromise and comfort while remaining firm, "Besides you have a day off the day after Halloween so you can catch up on any sleep you missed then."

Xander almost protested this but from the look in her eye he knew it was probably going to be the best he could hope for given his current situation. Despite the fact that his sense of humor had saved him from unemployment he had no doubt that she would fire him if he tried to argue for any more leniency that she was currently giving. With a sigh admitting defeat he nodded in agreement of her demands and moved to take his position next to Ben at his designated register. It wasn't jus the long shift that had tempted him to argue his case further but also the fact that like Halloween back home tomorrow would probably be the one night when he would be able to walk around without his shades. He had learned to adapt to the fact that he would always have to wear them until a way was found to expel Kung Lung from his body just as he had adapted to going by the name Kevin Lancaster. He had chosen the alias in an attempt to make fun of his current situation as well as a means by which he would be able to gain employment without alerting any anti-mutant groups to his location. He had no doubt that he was in several 'mutie' databases and that all it would take would be one of those bigots seeing his name or spotting him to force him to leave town. While there wasn't a whole lot he could do about his appearance aside from a different style of clothing he could use another name on anything that needed a John Hancock from him. However the pressure of constantly being careful not to let anything slip out or arouse suspicions was difficult and caused him no end of stress. He had been looking at Halloween as a chance to let his hair down and appear to be just another teen out for a night of trick or treating. He had even devised an excuse to give anyone who asked him about his eyes but now it looked like he was going to have to wait until next year. Telling people that he was wearing fake contact lenses from a friend who worked at a place who supplied the stuff for the major movie studios might work out on the streets with random lighting but in a well lit place like the Daily Grind he doubted anyone would believe that excuse.

Oh well! It's probably better this way. , Xander thought to himself as he attended to his first customer more or less on auto-pilot, Knowing the Harris luck the way I do something apocalyptic would probably wind up happening and in this town that's a distinct possibility. 

"Don't worry Agent Lancaster. Agent Parker and I will spin by tomorrow with the ever beautiful Agents Watson-Parker and Watson to cheer you up." Ben said in his best Agent Smith impersonation from the Matrix.

It had been pretty much the theme of all of Reilly's jokes about him ever since they had become friends thanks to him consistently wearing black shades. Every joke would be based on a movie, TV show or video game where a major character displayed the same affinity for dark shades that he seemed to possess. The two most common themes had been the movies Men In Black and The Matrix with him either being an enforcer for the machines or being Agent K in his early years as a Man in Black. As retaliation for those jokes Xander had pulled out every surfer, blonde and java joke he could think of to try and get even which as he had mentioned to Shirley entertained the customers.

"Well dude seeing that beach bunny redhead would brighten anyone's day!" Xander replied trying to effect his best airhead surfer voice.

"Better not let Pete hear you say that K or he's likely to sic a bug on you." Ben joked right back.

"Well then junior I guess it's a good thing I have a deatomizer hidden in back." Xander said impersonating Tommy Lee Jones' Agent K rather than the guy who did the voice for the cartoon series.

With that final shot they went back to tending the customers a few of which clapped in appreciation of their antics.

**_11:00p.m, Xander's apartment_**

**__**

**__**

Man tomorrow is going to be one helluva bitch even with breaks! Xander said as he trudged up the stairs to what claimed to be an up to code apartment.

Much like looking for jobs looking for a place to live where the landlord didn't ask too many uncomfortably personal questions was difficult. As a result he was reduced to living in an apartment that was only a few steps and floors above his old basement room that his parents forced him to pay rent for because he was past the age where they were required by law to care for him. Still at least he didn't have to worry about rooming with crack heads or worry about a brownish liquid that masqueraded as water coming out of his taps. Still he was fairly certain that the last person who lived here was a smoker or at the very least a very bad cook with frequent need to order take-out for dinner. It was probably not noticeable for normal people but for him it was like the person was still there in the room with him. Personally he hoped that his curse would actually help keep him from getting cancer or something from second hand smoke because his hands were already full of problems that needed his attention. Still even with his hands as full as they were some higher being saw it fit to add more and with that thought he unlocked the door to his apartment and sluggishly entered with fatigue slowing his steps. Nudging the door closed he sighed as he did almost every night when he took stock of what was now the sum of his personal possessions. When he had ducked out of Sunnydale he had been forced to take only what he could shove into a sack which meant nothing in the form of furniture or dish plates. It had taken several weeks of working at the daily grind plus a few purloined dollars from some vamps he dusted occasionally on his way home from work to afford some second hand stuff from a thrift store. That meant couches with weird smells coming from them and a mattress with some of its springs poking through and jabbing him in the back once a night. He managed to cover most of the damaged spots with tape and put a thick blanket on top of that to make it easier to sleep on but it still wasn't the most comfortable thing to sleep on. He knew he could probably phone Giles for some extra cash to make the place actually comfortable but he didn't want to risk either the F.O.H finding out where he was or Willow for that matter. He knew his childhood friend was probably worried sick about him and doing everything she could think of to find him but he knew it was better for everyone if remained missing.

He could still remember as clear as day how Willow looked when he had visited her for the first time in the hospital and each time the image entered his mind he tried to think of something less painful. No matter what others might tell him he knew that the ultimate blame for her injuries was him and the trouble he attracted due to his unique condition. As long as Xander the 'mutant' existed anyone who knew him or spent time with him would be a target for hateful bigots who thought that the only good mutant sympathizer was a dead mutant sympathizer. He had no desire to see Buffy or Giles laid up in the hospital like that so the best thing for all concerned was for them to try and live their lives without him. He knew it would be tough with things the way they were on the Hellmouth but hopefully Oz could pick up the slack he had left behind at least until they made it through their annual apocalypse. He wished more than anything that he could still be with them to fight the good fight but they had enough to worry about without being on the lookout for lynch mobs.

Suddenly there was a banging on the door and a man's voice bellowed "Lancaster! I know your in there! Open the door right now!"

..And the hits just keep on coming! he thought to himself as he strode back to the door and opened it to the sight of his slum lord Theo Russel.

"What can I do ya for Mr. Russel?" he asked in as polite and civil a tone as possible in the presence of the revolting example of a human being.

Mr. Russel was a slum lord of the worst order. Not only did he do only the absolute minimum amount of work necessary to keep the local health inspectors and police off his back but he also blackmailed his tenants. From his standpoint anyone who willingly wanted to stay in this rat trap was either a criminal or someone hiding from someone else which meant that they had to do their best to remain inconspicuous. That of course gave the fat and sweaty man leverage to use against them and pump them for more money on the threat of giving out their location to anyone willing to pay for it. There were only two reasons why he wasn't flat broke from paying this guy his blood money and one was the fact that Theo had yet to find out why he was living here. After all it was kinda hard to blackmail someone without knowing what their secrets were or why they were living in your building that was two steps from being condemned. The other was his next door neighbor named Trixie who while making a living as a call girl was in his opinion a respectable call girl. She had standards that had to be met before she agreed to do anything with anyone and absolutely insisted that the guys wear protection if they wanted the full home run special. Add to that the fact that she was a pretty decent person and they got along pretty good as far as neighbors go and they both hated what Theo was doing to the other tenants. To this end whenever the landlord showed up at their door they did their best to steer the man away from the more respectable among their neighbors and towards the ones that had to go like drug dealers and abusive pimps. It was a good plan and from the look on the disgusting man's face it was his turn to spill some disinformation.

"I have folks in some of the other apartments that say you've got a pet in here." , Theo said arrogantly as he casually strode around the apartment, "You know that's against the rules of your lease and that doesn't even include what you might be doing with it in here."

Oh great! Where does he get these ideas? Xander thought as he fought the urge to roll his eyes at the whole scenario.

"Now normally I would just toss a tenant out on their ass for a violation like this but I'm a reasonable man." , Theo said with a smile that spoke of his confidence in his position, "For an additional two hundred bucks I might be convinced to look the other way."

"Look you know I can barely afford this apartment as is." , Xander said in a voice he used to wring a passing grade from a teacher, "There's no way I can afford an additional two hundred dollars but I can send you in the direction of a tenant that I think recently came into some cash."

"Who?" Theo asked with an equal mix of interest and skepticism.

"Rollie up on the third floor. I saw him coming in with three fine ladies that were definitely of the top dollar variety if you know what I mean." , Xander said trying to mix just the right amount of truth in with his lie, "There's no way he could afford those ladies unless he had come into some serious money recently. Maybe you could persuade him to slide you some of that money?"

Theo seemed to consider it a moment before saying "Thanks for the info Lancaster. I guess I can overlook these discrepancies this time."

With that the slum lord left the room and slammed the door behind him which coincidentally coincided with Xander releasing a sigh of relief. He had dodged the bullet yet again but it got him to seriously considering asking Shirley for a slight raise sometime soon. He knew it would be asking for quite a bit but he really wanted to move into a better place where he didn't have to constantly be on the alert for someone sticking a knife in his back. Still he wasn't sure what the chances were that his boss would grant such a request since he hadn't even been there a year so far.

If she says no then I'm going to have to try and fit in a second job somehow. , Xander said as he laid out on his bed and stared at the ceiling, I wish I could ask Buffy how she managed going to school and being the Slayer at the same time because I could sure use a trick like that and the sooner the better. 


	3. A divergence in the path of the Fates

Daily Grind, Early Afternoon 

_ Note to self : Never **ever** be late again for work no matter **what**!_ Xander said to himself as he looked to the clock above the door.

He sighed as he ran his right hand through his hair and remembered waking up that very morning an hour earlier in an attempt to ensure that he arrived at work on time. This way he theorized he should have been able to avoid any traffic jams or bank robberies or any other time of problem that might have slowed him down. Sadly whatever god or goddess that was responsible for his random bouts of bad luck interfered again. This time though it wasn't human greed or bad traffic conditions that caused him to be late but something he hadn't anticipated in the slightest. This time apparently it was the collapse of two apartment buildings that had been damaged by the whole Onslaught mess. Before he had been able to do more than yell in surprise at the sight the bus was surrounded by brick and cement mixed with several other types of debris. What was worse was the fact that they had been traveling down a particularly narrow street which when mixed with the collapsed buildings meant that all the entrances and exits on the bus were blocked. He had waited for a full half hour for some kind of emergency help to come along to at least get one of the doors open before he took matters into his own hands. He asked the bus driver if he had a screw driver or something and the moment it was passed to him he went to work on the roof hatch of the bus that they but in to help with ventilation and getting rid of particularly bad aromas. Normally these hatches don't open very far and have catches to keep them from opening wide enough for a person to squeeze through. It was a kind of anti-theft measure he supposed but as he had learned in Sunnydale both to avoid his parents and to help out Buffy and the others there did exist certain ways to get around such obstacles. Within fifteen minutes of getting his hands on the screwdriver he had the hatch all the way open and was squeezing his way through to the roof of the bus. He remembered hearing several cheers from some of the other passengers as they were probably minutes away from following his lead but he wasn't really paying attention. No, he was focused solely on getting to the Daily Grind on time and so was trying to set a new land speed record by running, jumping and ducking under any obstacles that got in his way. It had taken him awhile but when his eyes had set down on the sign over the door to the place where he worked he had actually thought that he might actually make it.

_Unfortunately when I saw Shirley standing just inside that door with that cross look on her face I just knew my day had gone FUBAR_, Xander thought as he fought to keep his good cheer face on, _Now I not only have to work all day today but also tomorrow or else I'm out of a job! Why does the universe hate me!_

In any case though as he looked to the entrance as the bell above it tinkled to announce the arrival of a new customer whom he recognized immediately as someone as beautiful as Mary Jane Watson-Parker. While they didn't know each other like friends she and her husband came in often enough to talk to Ben that they knew each other's faces and names. Still she always seemed friendly whenever she came in and she was definitely easy on the eyes so seeing her made his extra-long shift a little bit easier to bear.

"Hey MJ! Lookin' good!" he yelled from his position behind the counter.

The redhead just laughed at his comment and proceeded to one of the booths by the windows with her Aunt Anna. The aged lady was less common at the Daily Grind but from what he could remember of previous visits plus conversations with Ben she was your basic sweet Aunt whom you could not help but like. In a way she reminded him of Joyce Summers back in good ol' Sunnyhell but the moment he remembered his home town his thoughts took a darker turn as he recalled all he had been forced to give up. These bouts of depression happened every now and again but he was always able to look for the silver lining to that dark cloud and use it to pull himself out of his funk. Being able to look at the stunning redhead that was MJ certainly helped a lot but that was soon obscured by the newest employee at the Daily Grind Allison Mongrain. The woman was filling in for Viviane and Kasi who for some reason or other hadn't shown up for work the last couple of days. The rest of the staff had managed but if they had been forced to go without the bare minimum staff on Halloween night then it would be bad for business. Shirley was quite happy when Allison had come along and asked for a job but he on the other hand was a little more wary of this new recruit. Whether it be due to his remaining soldier memories, Kung Lung's own inner warnings or the time he spent on the Hellmouth there was just something about this woman that seemed wrong to him. She just seemed so out of place among the rest of them and her Ice Queen personae was definitely not common with people who were 'people persons'. Still all he had to go on so far was his own inner instincts and that wasn't enough to support talking to Shirley privately about the new employee. So for now he would just keep an eye on her and hope that it was just residual Sunnydale paranoia that was the cause of his discomfort.

So he went about his job for the next hour but nothing changed with regards to his opinion of the Mongrain woman or the fact that she didn't belong here. That changed however when sounds of pain and discomfort were voice from MJ Watson-Parker which only gained in volume and power with every passing moment. Shirley immediately went to try to render what aide she could as she no doubt remembered giving birth to Devon and knew what to do in situations like these. However Sunnyhell paranoia urged him to review everything that he remembered seeing in the vicinity of MJ's table in case anything hellmouthy occurred that he did not immediately take notice of at the time. The only thing though that he could recall was that it had been Allison Mongrain who had both taken MJ's order and delivered it to the booth when it was ready. Eyes widening he looked around the immediate area for any sign of the woman but she was nowhere to be seen at all. Trying to look less than suspicious he moved over to the door leading into the kitchen and peeked in just in case she was in there but he found no one. Silently he cursed himself for not keeping a closer watch on her but pushed that thought to the side as he grabbed the phone and dialed 9-1-1 to get help for MJ. Her cries of pain were only getting worse and he vigorously prayed that she wasn't suffering from anything fatal but from the way she was clutching her stomach it just might be something far worse than her own death. MJ was due to give birth real soon but from the way she was holding her stomach he knew something was wrong with the baby. After all people did not just cry out like that from just eating bad food or getting a stomach ache besides which he knew the cooks in back were too good to let something potentially harmful reach a customer. Mostly because they knew what Shirley would do to them personally if that happened as well as the potential law suits that would arise because of accidental food poisoning.

Rushing over to Shirley he said "I called the paramedics, they should be here in a couple of minutes."

"Thanks Kevin. I don't know what's wrong! I ain't never seen a pregnant woman act like this before!" Shirley said as she applied a cold wet cloth to MJ's forehead.

"No kidding! Look someone ought to try and get Pete or Ben on the phone" , Xander said as he began to think for some plausible reasons to allow him to slip out, "and while they try that I'll try and find 'em in person just in case the absent minded photographer forgot his beeper again!"

"He forgot his beeper before?" Buzz asked inquiringly with one eyebrow raised above his mirror lensed glasses.

"Yeah I found it at least three times but managed to slip it to Ben so he could drop it off to Pete after work." , Xander replied as he scrambled to add the finishing touches on his half-truths, "You know how expecting fathers get when the due date gets this close. They get so nervous and forgetful that they'd lose their head if it weren't so firmly attached."

Shirley looked skeptical for a moment but then gave him the nod stating that she was okay with him going off to find Pete and Ben in person. Of course he didn't wait around to see if she would come up with some reasonable doubts or suspect that he was just trying to get out of his extra long work shift. Ducking into the kitchen he practically tore off his apron and ran out the back entrance to the Daily Grind casting his eyes left and right looking for any sign of the Mongrain woman. Unfortunately she was apparently long gone as he saw nothing to indicate she had just passed through the alley going in either direction. Normally this would be the end of a normal teenager's pursuit but thankfully his curse would actually come in handy in this case. Closing his eyes he reached within himself and plucked a portion of the power of Kung Lung and channeled it to his senses enhancing them beyond the human norm. That meant that not only were the five most commonly known senses now enhanced for him but it also included some lesser known talents thought to be found only in mutants or magic users. This was one of the few powers of the ancient Dragon King's abilities that he could dare to use without too many dangerous side-effects. Things like the increasing ones senses or accelerating ones ability to recover from injury were relatively minor abilities that he could tap into and thus safe. It was only abilities such as increased physical strength or the ability to fly that were a threat to his existence as they required him to undergo significant changes in order to access them. For flight he would have to grow wings and for the gift of enhanced physical strength his muscles would have to increase in both mass and density. For something as little as the senses though it was as little physical change as piercing ones ears.

_Okay Mongrain, where did you run off to?_ Xander thought to himself as he opened his eyes and attempted to sift through all the new sensory information.

It was disorienting to say the least as his mind was bombarded with sights, smells, sounds, sensations and thoughts with each one demanding his attention like a spoiled child. He wobbled on his feet for a moment but eventually managed to center himself and enforce some discipline on what he was taking in and how much from moment to moment. The first sense to be sifted through was that of smell, trying to find Allison's scent since that would be the most reliable way to track someone who is no longer in sight. While this would normally be difficult as she had been working at the Daily Grind for only a day he was lucky in that she had a rather pungent taste in perfume which even now stood out to his nose like rancid tuna. Following his nose like a certain cereal bird he soon exited the back alley onto the street about a block down from the Daily Grind and unfortunately that was where her scent ended. For some this might mean the end of the road but thanks to his current gift/curse of being host to a Dragon King it just meant he had to switch gears a bit. Blinking once he watched as everything shifted from their usual rich colors to a weird collection of glowing objects and people. He remembered reading about these glowing fields of light that encapsulated everything and everyone in existence whether they be natural or unnatural in origin. Giles called them auras and according to the technical jargon he had to sit through for ten minutes you could tell a lot about a person by their aura and no two auras were alike. It wouldn't matter if a woman gave birth to identical twins they would still have different auras although there would be a greater degree of similarity between the two than anyone else. Another unique feature about auras was that they kinda gave off a smokey residue in the air as they past through it. Nothing really tangible or anything beyond a drifting shadow with continual after images but still something he could follow as long as he didn't dawdle to long and let the after images expire completely. Fortunately though she was only a little ways ahead of him so it without further adieu he clambered up the fire escape on the side of the alley he had just exited and made his way to the roof.

They called this the thieves highway because in the hands of the right person one could get anywhere in the city undetected since almost no one bothered to look there or look up in the spaces in between buildings. True in a city that was once populated by super heroes of every shape and size people were a bit more inclined than others to look to the skies but he was confident he could keep them from getting a good look at him. With a surge of speed he took off across the rooftops doing his best to keep Mongrain's aura trail in sight while keeping him out of sight but eventually though he came across the ever predictable road block. Up until that moment the buildings had been placed rather conveniently for him to leap to and from along the way but now the only building that took him in the direction he wanted to go was taller than the one he now stood on and stood on the other side of a street. Needless to say unless he jumped very far and learned to wall crawl like a certain web-slinger he wasn't going to be able to make it. This pissed him off a bit as time was a wasting and he couldn't afford to remain indecisive for too long or he'd lose Allison's trail. Looking up and down the street below he tried to see if there were any nearby buildings that he could reach and perhaps allow him to pick up the trail afterwards. Unfortunately any suitable buildings were at least five blocks away and by the time he went around and got back to this spot the aura shadow would be gone. Looking straight down though he spotted a large transfer truck stationary in front of stop light and the proverbial light bulb lit up above his head. He had seen the web head do this once and if he timed it right he could land on the roof the truck and ride it until the rooftops became slightly more favorable. Charging to the roof's edge he jumped off the edge before his rational mind could stop him from doing something he thought he could do just by mimicking someone who had done it for years and watched as the pavement rushed up to meet him.

_ Ya know it's times like these that I have to wonder how the **hell** I managed to survive the hellmouth with a brain like these._ he though to himself ruefully.

Just as he passed the halfway point the second part of the web-swinger's move came into play as he grabbed a hold of a flag pole sticking out from the side of the building and used it to both absorb some of his momentum and help him gain some height as he let go and flew through the air to land on the roof of the transfer truck. Not taking any time to revel in the fact that he had not only done the move but also survived he flattened himself on the roof of the truck doing his best to remain unseen by pedestrian and motorist. Thankfully the repair and reconstruction work that had cropped up in the wake of the Onslaught incident had brought some mighty impressive trucks into the city which meant that as long as he stayed away from the sides or the back of the truck he was safe from sight. Adjusting his head so he could look ahead of the truck he was thankful when the light finally turned green that the vehicle turned left and thus in the direction he wanted to go in. Unfortunately he could not stay on the truck too long or someone was bound to catch a glimpse of him along the way so the instant he spotted a rooftop within his reach he leapt from the roof of the truck and returned to the his original method of following Mongrain.

_I hope that she didn't go too far or else I am going to be completely wasted by the time I catch up with her._ he thought as he tried to pace himself physically while not allowing the trail to leave his sight.

New York Hospital, Twenty minutes later 

_Well, well, well, what do we have here?_ Xander thought to himself as he walked up to his destination.

He had followed the aura trail of one Allison Mongrain to this hospital which he soon realized would likely be the one where MJ would be taken to by ambulance as it was the closest to the Daily Grind. It was true that MJ probably went to another hospital whenever she was sick and that was where her personal family doctor worked he knew that all they would have to do is call the doctor and get him here ASAP. Unfortunately this led to a list of several unusual coincidences which made him all the more suspicious of the Mongrain woman. After all it was in the first chapter of the Scooby gang handbook 'we don't believe in coincidences only catastrophies' and when added to a healthy dose of Hellmouth induced paranoia and you had a naturally suspicious mind. Entering the building he did his best to look like he belonged there while at the same time following the trail left by Allison to its source. He had already come up with a quick possibility as to why she was here but he had to make sure she wasn't here to genuinely see some sick relative or friend. Eventually he encountered another road block in the form of the door to the female locker room and he cursed his luck for the umpteenth time as he accepted the fact that he would have to wait for her to come out. Looking around he spotted a bench nearby with a table and a few newspapers and proceeded to sit down and read a copy of the Daily Bugle while keeping a close watch on the door. He had about made it through the first six pages before the door opened and a woman garbed in a nurse's outfit such as the type worn in an operating room exited into the hallway. While the woman was wearing one of those medical masks worn by everyone in the operating room he identified Mongrain right off the bat. After all how many older women have blonde stripes dyed into the front edges of their hair and more so how many of those types work in a hospital as a bottom of the ladder nurse. After all you would think that anyone who was in this line of work as long as most would think Allison must have been would still be at such a position. Granted he was no expert at how long it took someone to become a full fledged surgery level doctor/nurse nor at what rate promotions came for people in that line of work but he doubted someone in their early to mid-forties would still be assisting other doctors.

Getting to his feet he waited until she started to turn the corner before pursuing and tried to do his best to blend into the background. If he was right then she was a seasoned pro at this and he was at best a green rookie which could lead to some unpleasant events if she spotted him. Through several twists and turns of the hallways he almost had a heart attack from the number of times he was almost caught in the act of shadowing his target. When they finally reached the area near the emergency entrance of the hospital he saw Mongrain talking to a fat and particularly chubby doctor and wondered if he was her accomplice or if she was just playing her role until MJ arrived. As if a higher being decided to take that as a cue the door at the emergency entrance slid open and two paramedics guided a gurney with MJ on it swiftly into the hospital. He got as close as he dared and used his newly enhanced sense of hearing to eavesdrop to gather some much needed intelligence on what Mongrain might be doing here and if the fat Doc was in on it. He was barely able to make out what was being said but the Doc said that his name was Folsome and that he was subbing for her normal doctor as he was 'mysteriously' unreachable at the time. It was when he told MJ to **trust** him that Xander penciled him into the bad guy category as in his experience it was a clichéd line that almost all undercover villains used when trying to gain the trust of innocents or naïve heroes.

_This is looking more and more like one big set-up_ Xander thought to himself as he took a seat next to an Asian woman who was snapping picks of certain people in the area.

Fact number one: Watresses at the Daily Grind go missing from work which is out of character for them only to be replaced conveniently by Allison Mongrain. Fact number two: MJ Watson Parker begins to experience medical difficulties after eating food delivered by Mongrain and moments later Mongrain is absent. Fact number three: Ms. Mongrain goes to the nearest hospital and acquires a disguise before going to meet with her accomplice moments before MJ shows up. Finally fact number four: MJ's normal doctor is unavailable allowing the accomplice doctor to step in and handle the birthing procedure. Add them all up and the concept of a pre-planned operation wasn't just possible but outright certain with the objective so clear it horrified him. They induced labor in MJ just so they could kidnap the baby right out of the delivery room for who knows what reason. This angered him to no end and it was all he could do to keep from charging in and exposing them right then and there. Sadly he lacked proof of their agenda and would be treated like a raving lunatic as a result. He would have to wait until they tried to make off with the child before stepping in and hopefully learn enough to take action. Aside from the basics there was still a great deal he did not know about them and their mission which many any actions he took potentially dangerous. Was this just a simple steal and sell or was there something more to it? Did they plan on killing the child in the operating room or elsewhere? No, he refused to accept that as a possibility both because of the sickening nature of the act and the fact that Mongrain could just as easily have slipped something into MJ's meal to cause a miscarriage. If they wanted both the mother and the daughter dead there were any number of ways that they could get that done without raising suspicions. After all despite the fact that Sunnydale had been the capital of Denial the crooked members of the city government were still good at covering things up and knocking each other off in order to orchestrate an unforeseen promotion for themselves. These facts were uncovered by Willow when she had made several attempts to hack into the Mayor's personal files as well as the files that belonged to others suspected of demon sacrifices and satanic rituals. Still the question remained what did they want with the baby of two middle class citizens of New York City besides what they could … yuck … sell on the black market. One possible reason was Pete's connection with Spider-Man as far as the fact that he had the uncanny ability to be in the right place at the right time for some pretty snazzy shots. While some might simply dismiss this as excellent photo-journalism others like himself might suspect that Pete and the Web Head had some kind of arrangement going on. An arrangement where Spidey would tip off Parker about some big crime going down and then Peter would pay the web slinger back some way. He doubted that money was the payoff as he doubted even the best photographers got more than 500 for a set of decent pics. Still it likely meant that these two were just the hired help doing work for someone in the spandex set with a mad on for a certain irritating wall crawler. It was one of those confusing little facts about the super criminal community, they never did anything normally, they always had to make some kind of intricate plan of revenge to show how smarter they were than everyone else.

_Still if not for that stupid clichéd villain routine the entire world would probably be in hell right now._ Xander thought as he turned back to the doors of the delivery room.

In any case though it was now a waiting game as he couldn't make a move now that they were in the delivery room. The good side though was the fact that there was only one entrance and exit to the room and he was sitting across from it. All he would have to do is wait until they attempted to make their getaway and then step in to save the day like the white knight he always seemed to be impersonating. He cracked a slight smile at that given that this white knight was the host for the essence of a black dragon king inside of him. Talk about irony!

_Nice to see that the universe has a sense of humor_ , Xander thought as he focused on reading the Bugle in his hands, _because I intend to make Mongrain and Chubby Folsome look like complete idiots before I let them get away with little May Parker!_

Outside the Delivery Room, New York Hospital, FOUR HOURS LATER 

_Well I most certainly have a whole new respect for what women go through having a kid!_ Xander thought to himself as he heard MJ give out another scream.

It had been like that for the past four hours straight and there were more than a few times when he had been worried that he had given Allison and her accomplice too much credit in the villain department as it sounded like they were torturing her in there. He had no idea what to expect as far as how long giving birth was supposed to take but he had thought it would be something like he had seen in countless medical dramas on TV. Needless to say he was currently feeling deeply betrayed by television and the people on it but thankfully though it seemed to be coming to an end. This also meant though that Mongrain would likely be about to make off with the kid so fastening his eyes on the door he waited for the rat in a nurse's clothing. It took a few moments but as he had predicted she eventually emerged from the delivery room wheeling a cart that one might expect to find laundry or some sort of biological waste or something. As he suspected though it was definitely large enough to hide a kid in especially if it was sound absorbing on the inside to keep the baby's crying from reaching outside the cart. Tapping into his 'Dragon Power' as he had dubbed it he attempted to see through the metal of the cart to confirm that there was indeed a baby inside. He had to keep the newspaper close to his face though as he found that to do something that was distinctly beyond simply enhancing natural senses. When he had been tracking her earlier he had just been empowering senses that either already existed or that could be found somewhere naturally in the world. Even perceiving a person's aura was more natural than people thought as there were numerous people mutant or otherwise that could do it. Seeing though objects though and seeing the life flow within a living being however was strictly magical in nature. As such unfortunately his golden eyes tended to glow brighter and as a result might be seen even with this pitch black shades he was wearing. Luckily he only needed to use this ability for a moment to confirm his suspicions so there was a good chance that he could pull this off without causing a panic in this hospital.

_All right! Here goes nothing!_ He thought as he felt the power flowing through his eyes.

All at once the room changed and where once he only saw the surface he now was able to see beneath and for a moment his concentration fluctuated as his breath was taken away by what he saw. Before him was a sight unlock any other and no manner of preparation or book reading could have prepared him for what he saw. Where before he merely saw people and at times their own personal auras he could now see their life energy flowing through them. It was like taking the basic diagram of the human nervous system and then adding a multi-colored stream of energy zipping its way almost faster than he could comprehend throughout the body in a random and unpredictable pattern. He was dazed by what he saw but as he saw Mongrain pass directly in front of him he shook his head to regain his focus and looked at his target. In synch with his rising concentration time seemed to slow down until every second seemed like an hour to him as he peeled back the layers of matter between him and the cart's interior. First came the layer of metal that made up the cart which seemed to dissolve more than anything else as his arcane vision penetrated it. Next as he had predicted was the soundproofing material he had suspected had been installed inside the cart and much like the metal it fell away like sand swept away by a gust of wind. With this last barrier stripped away both his theory and his fears were confirmed as the form and life flow pattern of a child was discovered by his eyes. It sickened him to think that someone would be so evil that they would prey upon such innocence just to get at another or perhaps profit in the cases of Mongrain and Folsome as he doubted that they knew what the baby's ultimate fate was. Whatever the case he decided that rather than just pluck the infant out of Allison's hands in the parking lot he would trail her to her boss and find out what he or she wanted.

"Excuse me are you waiting for someone?" came a distinctly female voice to his right and out of reflex and habit he turned in the direction of the voice.

What he saw however was enough to shock him into complete immobilization and rendered him incapable of saying anything even remotely coherent. Standing to his right was the Asian photographer that he had noticed earlier snapping pics but he was seeing a side of her right then and there that he both consider a happy thought as well as embarrassing. For there in front of him wearing nothing but her proverbial birthday suit was the photographer with her arms crossed under her chest and looking for all the world like nothing was wrong. Of course from her point of view nothing was wrong because from her point of view she was still wearing all of her clothing but because he had turned to her without disengaging his arcane eyes he was seeing right past both her undergarments and regular clothes. He would later joke about how he could have used this particular talent back in high school but for the moment he was using every ounce of willpower at his disposal to keep his eyes focused on her face and not the area beneath it.

"Ah .. um .. I'm just waiting here for a co-worker of mine. His cousin's wife came in here earlier today for an appointment and asked me to keep an eye on her until he could get off work." He replied while trying to keep his embarrassment from becoming too obvious although he was quite certain his face was rather red at the moment.

Fortunately though she seemed to interpret his embarrassment as the clichéd geek-meets-beauty situation and actually seemed amused in a non-malicious way.

"That is awful kind of you to do for your friend." , the woman said sitting down next to him, "By the way my name is Angela Yin."

"Kevin Lensher." He said extending his hand politely which she promptly shook.

"So what is the cousin's wife in for?" Angela asked politely.

"Just a follow up check for breast cancer.", he replied as calmly as possible as the excuse had just popped into his head all of a sudden, " Nothing found so far but apparently she figured that having herself tested for it every once in a while was a good preventative measure. After all the sooner you find it the better your chances of treating it right?"

He was more or less babbling at this point but thankfully she seemed to take this all in stride without any indication that she was suspicious of him.

"A good idea, you can never be too careful these days." , Angela said in genuine approval of his statement before something seemed to rip her attention away from him, "Excuse me it looks like ol J. Jonah Jameson is getting impatient for his pics. It was nice meeting you Kevin."

"Same here Angela." He said as he watched her go before forcing his eyes closed and undoing whatever he did to give himself selective X-Ray vision.

_Man I hope that Buffy or Willow never find out about this!_ he thought to himself as he got up himself and made his way quickly in the direction he had seen Mongrain go before his embarrassing moment.

Sadly the fates seemed to think that he needed to be punished for his indiscretion a moment ago and he just knew that since they were all women the vote had been three in favor and none against levying some punishment. When he had exited the hospital in search of Allison he found that the time he had wasted chatting with Angela had given the baby-napper an unhealthy lead on him. He now could only barely detect her aura trail and if he didn't move quickly he was going to lose it entirely along with any chance of rescuing little May. Unfortunately there was only one way he knew of that he could make up for lost time and it was one that he had hoped he would never have to employ again. Running into an alleyway across the street from the hospital he immediately took off his jacket and his shirt before tying them both around his waist. Then with a leap of surprising height he jumped up past the first level of the fire escape onto the second before executing another such jump which brought him up just short of the roof. It was there however, on top of the apartment building's roof, that he was forced to tap into the power of Kung Lung in a way he hoped he would never have to **ever** for as long as the curse was his to possess. Within moments of this he doubled over in pain and nearly dropped to his knees as excruciating pain arced through his back unlike anything he had felt short of his initial fusion with the essence of the Black Dragon King. With a ripping sound akin to leather being split into two pieces the hard way he could feel two long slits being opened parallel to one another on his back from his shoulders to just above his waist. He was barely aware of this beyond a basic awareness as pain had asserted a dominant position in his mind and wasn't about to let go anytime soon. The slits then seemed to pulled open as though some unseen hands had grabbed either side and were slowly inching them opening them. It was when his pain seemed to reach its peak that the most violent and visual part of the process occurred as two pitch black wings shot up from the slits as though they were living sentient creatures making a bid for freedom. They were almost like bat wings in their appearance but with one unique feature that set it apart from the dragons found on Chinese paintings or in medieval stories. While these wings did have finger like ribs extending from the 'elbow' of the wing down to the bottom but unlike bat wings the areas between the ribs were filled with crescent moon scales. It was a mystery to him since in all the pictures he had seen of Chinese dragons showed them to be wingless but airborne serpent like creatures and all the dragons with bat like wings on their backs didn't have scales between the ribs. Not that he had much time to ponder this given that he was losing his prey but he would definitely remember to have a talk with Stephen about it later.

It seemed like forever before the pain in his back finally began to fade into being just a dull throb in his back but in fact it had only been a few seconds. Rising from his crunched state it took him a few moments before he could get used to the additional weight of the new wings but once he likened them to a heavy backpack it became easier. Striding swiftly to the edge of the building he found that he did not have any time to waste as the aura trail of one Allison Mongrain had almost completely vanished. This of course left him in between the proverbial rock and a hard place as he needed to leave now but he didn't have the slightest clue as how to use these wings. He had only pondered this course of action in passing since that fated night and never actually tried it as he had been so afraid of how close this would bring Kung Lung to the surface. Even when he had exited the hospital in search of Mongrain and little May he had only given cursory thought as to how he was going to pull off his plan of pursuit. Now that he came to it he slapped himself mentally upside the metaphorical head at his lack of planning and foresight before settling back into the indecision and worrying.

"C'mon Harris! How hard can it be?" , he said to himself before he shook his head at asking such a stupid question, "A newborn baby girl is danger! You said you were going to save her now **go** and **do it!**"

Placing his feet so that the toes were peeking over the side of the roof he looked down at the pavement four floors down trying to keep how much it would hurt if he didn't get the hang of flying in a jiffy. He wasn't all that concerned about the potential dying part since he had discovered via a knife in the gut one time back in Sunnydale that dragons apparently healed quick with Dragon Kings being doubly fast at it. It would however still take time for wounds to heal and as broken bones would be the likely result of his plunge off the edge of the building he would have a little trouble getting home to lick his wounds. Not that he would literally lick his wounds of course no matter what kind of animal was inside of him because that would just be plain gross. Still laying in the middle of the street wounded and sporting a pair of wings on his back would be practically sending an engraved invitation to every F.O.Her in the city to come for their pound of flesh.

So it was with these thoughts that he leaned forward and fell off the edge of the building and plummeted to the hard terra firma below. Counting silently to three he opened his wings as wide as he could to catch the wind on the way down and it was with this act that he was introduced briefly to the sensation of wings nearly being pulled out of their sockets. Mentally making a note not to wait so long before opening his wings should he ever be forced to do this again he forced his eyes open despite the pain and was gratified at the fact that he was rising upwards rather than falling. It was a slow ascent but an ascent nonetheless and so with a slight lean forward he tried to head in the direction that Allison's rapidly fading aura trail indicated she had gone. Again his intuition proved accurate as he began to move in the direction he desired if a bit shakily and thus resumed the hunt for Mongrain.

I just hope that I can get there in time! he thought to himself as he began to weave onto and off different air currents.

New York City Docks, Half an Hour Later 

_ Flying definitely is a lot harder than birds make it look!_ Xander thought to himself as he touched down atop the roof of a warehouse just short of where he suspected Allison's aura trail came to an end.

He had barely managed to keep up with the aura trail and there was more than a few times when he had nearly crashed into the side of a building. He was certain the close calls had taken nearly a decade off his life with the fear they had inspired in him but eventually he made it. Crouching down low he stealthily made his way down the roof to the opposite end where the action was likely taking place. While it was likely that there was no one else here on the rooftops casing the area he didn't want to stick out too badly since there was a chance he might catch Mongrain's eye if he wasn't careful. Unfortunately that was made all the harder by the fact that he couldn't do anything about his dragon wings without screaming bloody murder and letting everyone within earshot know he was here. He had done his best to try and curl them up or even turn them into a makeshift cloak like he had seen in a cartoon once but the best he was able to do was hold them tightly closed and against his back. It still meant that there were two closed umbrella shaped things sticking up from either shoulder and he had no idea how he might look to someone from a distance at this time of night. Just before he reached the point where he would just begin to appear to someone in the front of the warehouse if they happened to look in his direction at that moment he went down on all fours and crawled the rest of the way. He cringed a few times when he could have sworn that he had given himself away but eventually he reached a comfortable eavesdropping position and looked to see what he could see.

_ Well, well, well, what do we have here?_ Xander thought to himself as he took in the scene laid out for him below.

It was your typical shady meeting at midnight with Mongrain walking towards a dock and a man cloaked in darkness waiting for her patiently for his package. It really turned his stomach sometimes just how low some people could sink to get what they want whether it be monetary wealth or revenge against a person who wronged them. Don't get him wrong though, he was all for revenge if the cause was just, but there reached a point when enough was enough and it was time to just let it go. Closing his eyes he shifted his sensory sensitivity from his eyes which he had used to perceive Allison's aura trail to his ears to hopefully pick up on what was being said.

"Do you have the **delivery** Miss Mongrain?" the man asked in a voice that tickled the back of his mind like a memory that had been nudged and was slowly waking up.

"Right **here** sir." She replied in a tone usually reserved for someone delivering a report or even a piece of merchandise.

"Any unforeseen **difficulties**?" the man asked and once again Xander got the feeling like he should recognize this guy's voice.

"None sir." Allison replied with no emotion.

"**Excellent!** I trust you'll make sure it's **never** seen again." , the man said seemingly pleased with her response, "I do hope you'll enjoy **Europe** Miss Mongrain."

"A sizable bonus is included with your traveling expenses." He stated as he withdrew a plump envelope from his coat pocket and handed it to her.

"That's very generous of you, sir." She stated without emotion although he could have sworn she heard some gratitude in her voice.

"I always reward efficiency. Goodbye Miss Mongrain." The man said without any real emotion beyond that which he wanted to convey.

"Goodbye sir." Allison said as she stepped onto a boat waiting for her at the end of the docks.

"You needn't be so formal in the future, Allison…" , the main said as he took a cigar from a pocket in one hand and a lighter in another, "You may feel free to use my real name. It's **Norman** … **Norman Osborn**."

_NORMON OSBORN!_ Xander screamed mentally and only by an act of will power kept from yelling the name out loud.

That was where he had heard that voice before and with the memory of the last time he had heard it came an almost overwhelming rage that tempted him oh so sweetly to dive down there and tear the man limb from limb! It had been a little over ten years ago back in Sunnydale and he had been waiting for Tony Harris to come home from work at the latest Oscorp contruction project like always. It had been a better time then, before his parents had fallen into the bottle and never gotten out, and life was almost ideal from what he could remember. His mother had been cooking a cake to celebrate his father's expected promotion as Tony had managed to complete his quota of work three months ahead of schedule. It had been a better time then but it all came to a crashing halt when the door opened up to reveal a devastated Tony J. Harris who then trudged in like he was on auto-pilot. They had learned later when he had finally regained his senses that Oscorp had just laid off over half their human work force in the area of construction. Furthermore Tony had it on good authority from his immediate superior that it was the same deal throughout Oscorp. The C.E.O Norman Osborn was apparently taking the company in a completely new direction and had decided to get rid of the 'dead weight' as Tony's boss had claimed he had Norman refer to the laid off employees. That had been the start of the downward spiral at the Harris household and for the next two years Tony tried as hard as he could to find new work in the construction industry. It was all for naught though as no one was willing to hire on an ex-employee of Oscorp for one reason or another ranging from theories that the laid off workers were in fact industrial spies to that they were lazy bums that Osborn had been right to lay off. With every rejection letter Xander's dad slipped further and further into the bottle as it had been apparently the only means by which he could escape the reality of his situation.

His mother hadn't been much better as she had been forced to pull double shifts at the local theatre just to make enough so that when combined with Tony's unemployment insurance check they would have enough to barely pay for the necessities. The necessities of course being utilities, cheap food, cable and of course enough booze to keep your average tavern stocked for twice the amount of time it would take for his mom and dad to use it up. Then the beatings started and he began to use Willow and Jesse's places as a means of escape from the hellhole his life had become. Now, down below him watching as the boat began to move away from the docks, was the man responsible for it all and who was about to ruin another young married couple's life. For a moment he was torn by what to do, to either go down and tear that man apart for all the broken lives or rescue little may as he had originally came here to do. In the end he was forced to return to his opinion of revenge and decided that no matter how satisfying killing Osborn might be it couldn't justify sacrificing May. So it was with a bitter taste in his mouth that he watched Osborn go to the car that Mongrain had driven there in and then drive off to commit who knew how many acts of evil.

_Fine! You get to leave this time Osborn but mark my words!_ , Xander thought as his barely contained anger caused his eyes to glow brighter than they ever had before, _Your days are **numbered**! I will not rest until everything you value has been taken from you and you are left with nothing!_

With than silent vow he took to the sky after Allison Mongrain's boat and the helpless child that needed his help. With strength of purpose in his heart and determination in his eyes all sense of anxiety and nervousness over his ability to fly vanished for his soul was unwilling to let anything get in his way. The water whipped by below him as he headed towards the small child sized boat just beginning to exit the harbor into open waters as images of Pete, Ben and MJ flew through his mind. In them he had almost thought that there was the beginnings of another Scooby gang with the exception of the guys outnumbering the girls this time and no G-Man. While only Ben could be considered technically his friend at the moment he held hope that in time Pete and Mary Jane would come to see him that way as well. However that would not happen if Mongrain succeeded in getting away with little May Parker, no the Parker household would be crippled with grief and scarred deeply. Who knew how the loss of the baby would affect them? He had to succeed if only to ensure that they didn't lose that spark of life that had once made his parents the greatest in the entire world.

When at last he reached the boat he got in as close as he could before tucking his wings as close as he could against his body and dive bombed the boat. He needed to act fast or else he would be giving Mongrain the time she would need to grab the baby and perhaps use it as a hostage. Bringing his legs forward he landed on the back deck of the boat with such force that the front end of the boat almost completely came up out of the water. Digging into the deck he charged forward to the inside of the boat catching Mongrain in the process of taking a semi-automatic pistol from her purse. This did nothing to discourage him as he blitzed her position and delivered a carefully measured right cross to her jaw which slammed her against the wall. He waited for a moment to see if his attack had done its job and once satisfied he strode carefully over to a cradle that was positioned near a small bed. He walked with uncertain steps as he was worried that there might be some kind of boobie traps laid about to catch tresspassers but then dismissed the notion as her doubted that Mongrain would have them active while she was around. What he saw curled up and asleep in the crib almost dispelled the anger in his heart completely as his eyes fell upon the quiet form of little May Parker. Ever so gently he wrapped her up in the baby blanket upon which she rested and cradled her in his arms looking down on her with eyes that just about anyone with a heart would have when looking at pure innocence. It was in that moment of pure contentment that he made his first mistake and almost his last as a gun shot rang out in the air and a hot poker like pain tore through his right shoulder barely missing one of his wings. He screamed in pain as well as shock before turning to see Allison Mongrain struggling to get to her feet with her smoking gun in her hands.

"I don't know who you are but put the child down now." Mongrain ordered despite the tremors evident in her hands.

"Are you **NUTS**? You could have hit the baby!" Xander exclaimed in shock at how close little baby May's life came to ending.

"The child's death would have been regrettable but Mr. Osborn made it clear that if there was any attempt to remove it from my custody I was authorized to terminate it." Mongrain said in such a stale and sterile manner that is was clear she didn't even consider the baby a person but rather as a commodity or object.

"This is a **human** child we're talking about here! Not some new fangled computer or one of a kind diamond mask!" Xander yelled at her while keeping his body between her and the child.

"Not my concern. All I care about is following Mr. Osborn's orders and getting paid.", Mongrain stated stoicly as she made a show of aiming the gun to emphasize her willingness to fire it, "Whether or not the child lives doesn't matter since either way I get paid. Although I would get paid quite a bit more with the child alive so I'll say it again : put the child down, NOW."

This indifferent statement of where she stood was the last straw as far as Xander was concerned because right then and there he was beyond any word usually used to describe anger or fury. Here she was, standing in front of him, talking about the newborn child like she was a holiday bonus or a lucrative commission! This was a human baby girl for crying out loud! His anger must have been evident as he could see uncertainty begin to creep onto her face and maybe some actual fear in her eyes. However he would not give her the chance to beg for her life as he opened his mouth and unleashed a power he had never wanted to use ever again. With all the subtlety of a freight train a blast of ebony fire flew across the room and engulfed the woman gun and all before going past her and hitting the controls of the boat before continuing to the front of the boat and then out to sea. As his anger dimmed somewhat he found that he did not regret the fact that he had just killed a person because as far as he was concerned she didn't deserve such a quick death. Unfortunately his little burst of anger had also damaged the ship and if that flowing liquid and sparking wires were any hint this boat was not much longer for this world than its recently deceased owner. Not even waiting for coherent thought his survival instincts took over as he ran for the outer deck and with all the strength he could muster in his legs leapt into the air as high as he could before spreading his wings. Not five seconds after he was airborne the boat exploded creating a fireball so big it would almost assuredly be seen from the docks or the shoreline. He would have to get to land and out of sight before the local P.D came to investigate or worse Osborn got wind of what happened.

By the time he finally did reach a rooftop of a building located along the shoreline his shoulder had stopped bleeding but was still sore from the gunshot wound. Tomorrow it would be gone though as one of the benefits of having Kung Lung inside of him but he had a more pressing decision to make right at that moment. Surprisingly still resting soundly in his arms was little May, daughter of Pete and MJ Parker, and he was in a state of indecision as to what to do about her at the moment. The instinctive response was to return the child to her rightful parents like any good person would do in this scenario but given what he had just discovered today he wasn't sure of that was a good idea. According to what he remembered Norman Osborn was supposed to be dead and buried, his funeral was a completely newsworthy event. The fact that he was apparently alive and well financed enough to arrange an almost flawless kidnapping of a child with almost no one being the wiser meant that he was not someone to take lightly. While no one would ever find the body of Allison Mongrain Norman would notice when the name of the boat he gave his employee was identified as the boat that went boom in the harbor. That meant that he would be keeping the entire city under surveillance for any sign of the baby when no remains popped up. He would also pay extra special attention to the Parker household which meant that was the one place that he couldn't send the kid. To do so would place the kid in harm's way and risk another kidnapping if not worse depending on how far Norman was willing to go with the newborn baby. He doubted he would be taken seriously if he went to the police and said that a dead man arranged to have the baby of his son's best friend kidnapped. When added to the fact that he doubted Peter and MJ would be able to keep the kid safe on their own without some kind of official help and there was only one choice really he could in good faith make.

"Well little one, it looks like we're stuck with each other for awhile." Xander whispered softly before taking back to the air and heading in the direction of the home of a certain Doctor he knew.


	4. You cannot be serious!

Note : This is to answer some of the questions asked by dogbertcarrol concerning the content of the previous chapter. First I want to say that Allison Mongrain didn't take to the rooftops as you seem to think. She took a car to get to the hospital in time to make off with the baby. It was Xander that took to the rooftops in order to make up for lost time and avoid any areas on the sidewalk that was particularly congested with pedestrians. Second the reason why Ben and Pete didn't show up at the hospital is because they were busy dealing with Mendal Strom the Robot Monster. This is my mistake, I have been writing this story from the standpoint that those that are reading this are already familiar with the facts of the mainstream Spider-man universe. The events of the previous chapter took place in the 'Revelations' series which showed the return of Norman Osborn Senior and revealing finally who is the real Peter Parker and who is the clone. I know that this is unfair to those who do not read comic books or have not read the appropriate background material but I have always hated fanfics where the author spends five or more pages summarizing previous events or providing background material. When you add that to the fact that if I did give background information it wouldn't mesh with the P.O.V thing I have going. After all Xander wouldn't know about Pete and Ben fighting Mendal Strom since he wasn't anywhere near there.

As for ripping open the cart in the hospital that would have drawn too much attention to Xander and possibly endangered little May. After all we don't know what kind of possible gadgets and traps Mongrain might have put in the cart. She is a professional merc after all. Plus there is the fact that he would have had to explain how he could have known the kid was in there in the first place. That might have exposed him as a mutant or at least made people suspect that was the case. Also the photographer from the Bugle was there so if he had just rescued May right then and there which might have gotten his picture in the paper and let Osborn know who had rescued the child and where she could be found afterwards. So it was to his advantage both for keeping his identity a secret and for finding out who was behind the entire plot. As for why Xander was reluctant to return Baby May to Pete and MJ that will be further explained in this chapter hopefully answering all your questions.

**__**

**__**

**_Greenwich Village, In the Alleyway Behind the Home of Dr. Stephen Strange_**

One Hour After the Rescue of Little May Parker 

_ I'm cutting this .. ughn .. way too close!_ Xander thought as he touched down at the rear entrance to the home of the Sorcerer Supreme.

He had been flying for the past hour straight and he could feel the power of Kung Lung taking a stronger hold over the cells of his body. Cutting through the air with his wings he was finding it easier and easier to fly with skill than the awkward jerking pattern he that had been present in his actions before. To some this would be a good thing in that he was apparently getting the hang of flying but he knew the truth and the truth scared him pushing him to fly harder and faster to his destination. The rate at which he went from flying like a rank amateur to a competent expert was far too fast to be natural and to him represented the rate at which the essence of the Dragon King was spreading. Normally all it would take would be an injection of a diluted form of dragon poison and some serious concentration on his part to force the his body back to the way he liked it. Unfortunately his wings had been around for too long and he had been forced to quickly take flight and get away from the fiery remains of the boat the Mongrain woman had been in so as not to be linked to it. With such a length of duration between his summoning the powers of Kung Lung and the present moment there was only one person who could help him now.

Looking down to the baby in his arms he was glad that little May Parker had been fast asleep during the trip. After all even though it was hardly strange to see beings with wings flying around the city with all the heroes and villains that once occupied it one such shape carrying a crying baby would attract some very bad attention he didn't need. He also couldn't touch down at the front door because there was no way he would be able to look people in the face and say that he was just wearing a very expensive costume. Fortunately the Doc had a back entrance to the place for some of his more exotic visitors so that they could visit without attracting undue attention to themselves. Redoubling his efforts to keep the darkness within him at bay and his body under control he walked over to the back door of the mansion and knocked assertively but without knocking it down. Thankfully it was only a few moments later that the door opened to reveal the Sorcerer's aide and confident Wong dressed in his usual oriental attire.

"Xander! We have been expecting you." , Wong said as he stepped aside to allow the dragon-human hybrid to enter, "Stephen had a feeling when he sensed the power of Kung Lung being used that you would be paying us a visit."

Attempting to tuck his wings in as best he could Xander still needed to bend down a bit in order to make it through the doorway but he was able to do so with minimal discomfort.

"Yeah, figured you would be. Does the Doc have the serum waiting?" Xander asked as he strode up the steps to the second floor where Stephen Strange's main study was located.

"He is completing the final enchantments for the potion as we speak although he is most irritated that you disrupted his one 'night off'" Wong said as he followed at a respectful distance.

"Yeah well it couldn't be helped. An innocent life was at stake." Xander said as he finally reached the second floor and moved towards the door to the main spellcasting chamber.

"You mean the child you carry in your arms?" Wong inquired as he moved ahead to open the door for him.

"Yes. She's the child of a friend that was stolen right out of the delivery room." Xander said making it clear by his voice that he would do it again if he had to.

"Then I suppose that will have to be reason enough for risking the rebirth of Kung Lung." Came a voice from further within the room that was a mix of displeased but at the same time understanding.

"I know, I know! You told me never to tap into Kung Lung's power unless it was to save my own life or prevent his power from falling into the wrong hands but I couldn't just let that snake Osborn make off with little May!" Xander said in his own defense but immediately regretted his actions as his loud voice awoke the sleeping child.

"Wong, please take the child down the kitchen and find her something to eat." Dr. Strange requested in a perfectly respectful tone of voice.

"Of course Master." Wong replied as he tentatively took little May Parker into his arms.

"Wong, how many times have I told you to call me Stephen?" Doc Strange said with a sigh born of asking for something repeatedly and never getting it.

"One hundred thirty this Friday Master." Wong said with a small grin as he exited the room and therefore prevented the good doctor.

"Still the same ol' Wong eh Doc?" Xander said with a grin as he remembered quite a few other times Stephen had tried to get Wong to call him by his first name instead of 'Master'.

"Yes. I am almost ready to give up trying to get him to call me by my first name." , Doctor Strange said in his usual serene tone, "With you though I am still determined to get you to understand the risks you take every time you tap into the power of the forbidden Dragon King. Still saving the life of the child is always worth such a sacrifice but we must move quick to counteract the progress of Kung Lung's essence."

Without further adieu the Doctor went over to where he had been preparing the serum from the moment he had first sensed the black power of the Black Dragon King earlier today. It sat simmering in a small caste iron pot in the form of a bubbling green liquid that looked like a thick crystal light lemonade drink. However if anyone was to take a whiff of the concoction they would immediately ask for a nose plug before they would even consider coming near it much less drink it. However Xander knew what would happen if he refused to consume it and the fear of losing his body to the ancient being Kung Lung was more than ample motivation to overcome the revulsion at the foul stench. Still when the Doc handed it to him he quickly downed the glass of it he had been handed in one gulp so as not to persuaded to hesitate by both the stink and what he knew would come after. In the past when he had used enough of Kung Lung's power to require aid to return to his definition of 'normal' the only pain he had suffered was a nasty headache for a few hours due to the concentration it took to force his body to obey him. This would be much worse as this was no stray patch of scales or slightly pointed finger nail he would be undoing but the destruction of his dragon wings as well as the scales that he could feel covering parts of his body.

"OH **SHIT**!" Xander cried out as the pain hit him like a thousand white hot needles piercing every square inch of his body.

So intense was the pain that he was forced down to one knee with only one arm keeping him from collapsing to the ground entirely. However throughout the period of pain he could feel the serum working its magic as the weight of the wings on his back gradually lessened more and more as the seconds passed. Added to that were the sections of his skin that burned hotter and more painfully than others which he deduced were the areas of his skin that had transformed into black dragon scales. This process continued for a time, the pain reaching its peak before gradually fading away and leaving him gasping for breath and cursing his predicament all the more passionately. He even longed for the day when he was just your average American teenager with no more to worry about than graduating high school. It was a sort of innocence not knowing about the evils of the world and he wasn't talking about crime or evil humans. He was talking about the older forms of evil that the majority of modern civilization was only beginning to take notice of and comprehend. That innocence and ignorance had been cracked when he had met Buffy Summers and learned of the dark things that still traveled the world preying on the innocent. But even then he had the option of walking away from it all and living the life of a normal human being even though he eventually choose to fight the darkness. Now though he was a part of the wackiness, trapped within it, with no release from it until he either died or the essence of Kung Lung was finally extinguished once and for all.

It took him a few moments to collect himself but when he looked down to examine his body he found that the enhancements he had made to his sight as well as everything else he had called upon this night had vanished. All that likely remained was the sign of his possession, the golden dragon eyes, and those he had become all too accustomed in coping with. Taking his shirt and jack from around his waist he quickly slipped them on before turning to face the Sorcerer Supreme who was probably waiting for a more detailed explanation.

"If you are looking for an explanation Doc then you better get comfy." Xander said as he himself sat down on one of the stray floor cushions scattered about the room and crossing his legs.

Two Hours Later 

By the time that Xander was done Doctor Strange, the Sorcerer Supreme, knew everything from the Zeppo's first suspicions about Alison Mongrain to fleeing from the scene of the destroyed boat. While he did point out a few ways he could have followed and rescued the child without using the dragon abilities he could tap into he agreed with the operation overall. However that was when things came to the issue of what to do with the child now that he had her which both of them had some difficulty deciding.

"So you still believe it would be unwise to return the child to her parents?" Doctor Strange asked.

"Look, Pete and MJ are good parents and everything but they're barely making ends meet as it is. I even overheard Ben say that Pete recently got reduced to freelance work for the Bugle due to cut backs because of the Onslaught mess." , Xander replied as he sipped on the tea that Wong had brought them when he had returned with little May, "If Osborn is hot enough to induce labor, hire professionals to do the inducing and be in the delivery room instead of her usual doctor and then be willing to fund a yacht trip overseas I doubt he's just going to give up because of one set back. It won't take the cops long to do a once over of the wreckage and Osborn will know what they know within an hour of the report being submitted."

" And once he finds out that there are no bodies mixed in with the wreckage he'll assume that either Mongrain has double crossed him or that someone unknown has made off with the child as well as Mongrain perhaps." Stephen said continuing with the logical train of thought they were both riding.

"Yeah and it will take him all of two seconds to conclude it was a do-gooder who did the deed and even if he doesn't he'll cover his bases and have the Parker's home watched along with Ben's apartment." , Xander said pointing out the smart moves for Osborn to make, "The second I the baby pops up anywhere near either of their places Osborn will put a plan into the works to kidnap the kid again or worse if it will hurt the Parker's."

"You're certain that the Parker family is his true target?" Doc Strange asked as if he had a different theory.

"Of course. He probably blames them for not keeping his son from going nuts and keeling over. Why else would he want to deliver this kinda hurting to an average middle class family whose only connection to him was through his son?" Xander said with a raised eyebrow as he caught on to the possibility that the Doc might have another hypothesis.

"Well I might not know the Parker family as well as you do but I'm do have a subscription to the Daily Bugle despite their editor's biased opinion on some things. Peter Parker is often connected to pictures of Spider-man so perhaps Mr. Osborn thought to gain a manner of revenge against the wall crawler by attacking one of his supposed friends?" Stephen postulated and the more Xander thought about it the more plausible it did indeed seem.

"Anyway even if you're right it doesn't change the fact that if I return May to the Parkers Osborn won't have any trouble whatsoever grabbing her again. Even if they're friends with the web-head he can't keep watch over the kid twenty-four seven after all the guy has to have a life of his own doesn't he?" Xander asked rhetorically certain that there would be little either the web slinger or the Parkers could do to stop Osborn should he try anything.

"I suppose so. Still should you not at least inform the child's parents that she is indeed alive rather than allow them to continue to believe Osborn's deception?" Strange asked in a way that made it clear what his choice would be were he in Xander's position.

"Yeah but the second either Pete or MJ saw my face they'd know exactly where to look for their kid and even if I changed addresses Pete has enough friends at the Bugle to be able to track me down. I don't have the resources to go underground with this kid." Xander said making it clear that he wasn't a big fan of letting ma and pa Parker know who now had their kid.

"What if they couldn't identify you when you met with them?" Stephen asked as the beginnings of a plan began to form in his mind.

"What do you mean? I doubt I could come up with a convincing disguise on my budget that would fool them and they come to the Daily Grind often enough to be able to recognize my voice on the first try." Xander asked as he proceeded to poke holes in the Doctor's idea.

"I believe I have a means to remedy both such problems." , Stephen Strange as he lowered himself to his feet from the floating lotus position he had been sitting in, "Ever since you first approached me with your dilemma I began to explore ways to shield you from the senses of those who might seek to tap into Kung Lung's power as your Mayor Wilkens did. Using a sample of your blood I attempted to cast several concealment spells to obscure it from all but the most potent mystical sight."

"However despite my most determined efforts the blood rejected all magicks I attempted to impose upon it no matter how subtle or harmless the spell appeared. I then sought to find an alternate solution whereby the enchantments themselves would be implanted into talismans and armor instead." , Stephen said as he walked over to a book shelf in the corner, "Needless to say that went much smoother but the real test of its effectiveness will be if the enchantments remain after you have donned the objects I have enchanted."

With that he waved his arm from one side of the bookcase to another and in a twinkle of lights it vanished to reveal a hidden compartment. It wasn't very big, no bigger than your average closet but inside was a vaguely humanoid featureless obsidian statue wearing armor that could put the most impressive made-for-movie outfit to shame. Starting at the top was a helmet that seemed to be made of the thinnest material as it appeared to be molded tightly to the stone surface of the statue making the material seem no thicker than half a centimeter. If he were to put it on it would cover his entire head but it was puzzling that there was no latches or seams on the side of the helmet whatsoever. That seemed weird because he couldn't see how it would be possible for him to put it on since it was an established fact that a person's neck is considerably thinner than their head. That would make it impossible for him to squeeze it on over his head unless it was made of some kind of rubbery material but from the way the light refracted off of it he was sure it was some kind of metal. As for features it was obvious that Stephen had used Kung Lung as a theme for the outfit because the entire helmet was designed to look like a dragon's head. Twin horns wrapped around the sides of the helmet from roughly just above the forehead of the helmet almost until they were touching in the back. A white sheet of flexible metal was attached on the top of the head from just above where the horns started on the fore head across the top and ending just below the shoulders of the outfit. It didn't look like the white 'hair' was meant for decoration as it didn't look soft and he could actually see how it might be capable of preventing attacks to the back of his neck or maybe even someone breaking his neck. The eyes of the helmet seemed to be made of clearest amber and he had a feeling they would have an intimidating effect on those who were on the receiving end should he get angry enough to cause his own eyes to glow bright enough. Around the eyes the bone structure was not as one would expect around human eye sockets but was more elongated horizontally to appear more dragon like complete with scaled eyebrows above the eyes.

There were holes about nose high for him to breath through but thankfully Dr. Strange had been a bit more practical and made them less for decoration and more for practicality. They were essentially two triangle shaped holes no bigger than thumb tacks and seemed to have some kind of filtering system inside of them.

The mouth area of the helmet was likewise more practical than decorative with two sets of three breathing holes parallel to each other vertically in the center. The perimeter of the mouth area was ringed with white pointy teeth that would seem right at home in the mouth of a dragon.

The next most impressive part of the suit was the chest and back plate which kinda looked like the torso armor you would see on only the highest ranking Roman generals during the time of Caeser Agustus. However instead of depicting the gods or past battles in which he was victorious there was a uniquely designed dragon emblem on the chest with black being the base color of both plates while white was used to give shape to the dragon body and all. The dragon emblem encompassed a little more than half of the surface of the chest plate while on the back plate were two ribbed dragon wings that were amazingly similar to the ones he had sprouted from his back earlier in appearance.

The rest of the armor consisted of shin guards, toed boots and metal gauntlets that ended just beneath the elbow. Both gauntlets were primarily made of the same obsidian black metal as the rest of the outfit but with white highlights at the joints and seams. Also present were talons located at the tips of each finger as well as the thumbs that were as white as the purest ivory. Both shin guards with smooth on the surface and guarded their respective areas well without hindering movement at all. The boots looked pretty standard except for the little indentation on the inside of the big toe making it look like the boots that Xander remembers seeing in several ninja or samurai films.

All in all it was very clear to this Zeppo that the Doc had put a lot of hard work into designing and creating this disguise for him and had taken into account the fact that he may eventually have to fight. After all if all he wanted was to conceal him from the Sight of others than all he had to do was come up with some pretty basic talismans that were probably pretty generic in comparison to this. There was definitely no way that Pete or MJ would be able to recognize him if he wore this outfit and he was pretty sure that a voice distorter had been made a part of the helmet also. After all he doubted that a skilled surgeon and sorcerer supreme would miss such an obvious and necessary addition to the armor to prevent people from connecting Xander Harris to this warrior in black. Still there was just one matter he would have to talk to Stephen Strange about before he could actually try the armor out.

"Stephen I know you probably spent quite a bit of time on this and it does look quite good but there's just one problem with me wearing it." , Xander said as calmly as possible before the pent up emotion exploded, "I'D LOOK LIKE A FREAKIN' POWER RANGER!"

Dr. Stange backed up a bit at this as Xander's eyes were no doubt glowing a bit with both anger, annoyance and excitement but he quickly steeled himself.

"It's not that bad. Besides have you seen some of the outfits that some of the heroes of this world have worn over the years? They make this armor look downright conservative by comparison." , Stephen said in defense of his creation, "Besides its not my fault that those idiots over in Japan have made wearing armor like this ridiculous. In any case I'm sure that after a few skirmishes with you in this outfit they'll have no choice but to respect it and you."

"I think you're giving me a little too much credit Strange. I may have been a decent enough fighter back in Sunnydale against demons and I may have gotten a little better since a certain Dragon King took up residence in my body but I'd still wind up getting my butt kicked in a serious fight." Xander said modestly but honestly as he hadn't really advanced all that much.

"Even if that is the case this armor should be enough to keep you safe from detection and give you some protection even if they should somehow find you." Stephen said internally amused at the boy's modesty.

"I guess. How exactly do I put it on anyway? I don't see any buckles or latches or anything so I can't see how I'm going to get that helmet on unless you do some serious head shrinking to make my head fit." Xander said with some levity before realizing that the Sorcerer Supreme had the power to do exactly that.

"No I have a much simpler way for you to change into it." Strange said and with a simple gesture the armor seemed to transmute into white energy before being drawn forth from its previous home and infused into the body of one Xander LaVelle Harris.

Xander was a little surprised by this but he trusted the Doc enough to not be too alarmed or attempt to defend himself from the energy as it struck his chest and seemed to disappear within him.

"So what do I do now?" Xander asked as he tried to look for anything that might let him put on the armor.

"All you need to do is will the armor to appear and it will. It is now as much a part of you as Kung Lung and will respond to your commands just as an arm or a leg would." Stephen explained almost like a pre-recorded users manual.

Shrugging he tried to will the armor into place and with a flash of white light he felt a significant weight suddenly appear on his body and his sight changed as though he was looking through sunglasses. Looking down at his body he could see the parts of the armor that had only moments before been on the obsidian statue and found it to be an almost perfect fit. There were a few areas that were a bit more muscled than he himself was but he assumed that the Doc was figuring on him growing into it in those areas. What was a bit surprising the areas on the statue where there had been bare 'flesh' were not bare anymore but rather covered in a chain mail like material that almost looked like cloth. However his own enhanced vision could clearly see the links of little metal wrings and metal that made up the material.

"As you have no doubt surmised when you summon the armor a durable fabric much like chain mail will appear to link the various pieces of the armor together." , Strange said as he began to circle Xander as if to inspect his work on a live subject, "The armor as a whole is extremely durable and capable of taking a blow from a weapon as strong as Thor's hammer and remaining intact. When added to its basic function of keeping you concealed from the Sight of others and you will find that you are quite well protected."

"Woah. Cool! What?" , Xander said before hearing the sound of his own voice and finding it different from what he remembered, "Hey! Why do I suddenly sound like a James Earl Jones wannabe?"

"As you stated earlier even with a full face mask to obscure your appearance anyone who knew you would be able to identify you by your voice." , Strange replied with a small smile appearing on his face, "I thought to give you a voice that was as far from your own natural voice as possible while at the same time having the side-effect making you sound more intimidating and powerful than you really are."

"Makes sense." Xander commented as he remembered all of the Star Wars movies he had seen and agreed that the deep voice of Darth Vader's did make him seem more menacing.

"The talons located at the end of each finger and thumb are quite sharp and should allow you to climb even the most slick of surfaces. By willing it you can have each talon extend outwards an inch to allow for deeper penetration as well as use them as weapons." , Doc said as he finally stopped examining how the armor fit Xander, "Twin talons on each foot can also be extended although they are not visible at the moment. The final and most likely the most important added feature considering your temperment is that it will serve to increasingly hinder the progress of Kung Lung's essence should you feel compelled to tap into his power again."

"Really?" Xander asked a little excited at the idea of being able to do some good without having to worry about a certain illegal tenant taking over his body and giving him the boot.

"Don't get any ideas Xander. I said it would hinder the progress of Kung Lung's essence not stop it. Even though the armor was crafted by me and I have indeed done my best it will not withstand a concentrated effort by Kung Lungs magic." , Stephen Strange said firmly to let Xander know he wasn't joking, "In other words it will slow down the spread of Kung Lung's essence but it will not stop it. That and if you call on too much of his power at once the armor will likely go boom with you in it."

"Okay no overkill with the mojo and learn to pace myself. Gotcha!" Xander said shaking his head at how odd it was for James Earl Jones' voice to be saying things that were more appropriate to come from his mouth in his voice.

"With the ground rules set there's just one thing left to do." Dr. Strange said as he turned his back to Xander.

"What's that Doc?" Xander asked curiously cocking his head to the right.

"This!" Strange said and before Xander could say anything he was hit center mast by a powerful blast of magical energy that slammed him into the wall of the room next to the door.

It was like getting hit by one of those muscled demons that weren't big on brains but experts in the use of brute force. However surprisingly the blast didn't hurt him as much as he thought it might given that the blast was coming from the current Sorcerer Supreme. After all this guy was like on the top rung of the human mystic ladder and capable of taking on Gods and winning which was nothing to sneeze at given the pictures he'd seen in the Daily Bugle. By all rights he should be gaping at a rather bloody and disgusting hole in his chest and wondering why the hell one of the few supernatural friends he had made in this town had killed him. Instead he just felt as though he was going to be sore in the morning and perhaps the entire day afterwards depending on how quickly his dragon side could heal him. For right now though he had an important matter to attend to and a metal clad fist to introduce to the Sorcerer Supreme's face.

"What the **hell** did you do that for!" Xander yelled as he struggled to his feet, wobbling for a few moments as he tried to find the least painful way he could achieve his goal.

"I told you earlier. I was uncertain if the enchantments I had placed on the armor would remain once it had become a part of you. If it had not it is true there would be a sizeable mess to take care of but I would have been able to heal you and Kung Lung's essence would have taken care of the rest." Dr. Strange said with the same easy going manner as someone saying they would take out the garbage later.

"Fine. Do it again though and there are going to be some serious words between us Doc." Xander said in a tone that seemed to be both emotionless and furious at the same time.

The Doc merely took note of this fact and nodded knowing that it would be unwise to provoke Xander more because it would serve only to hasten Kung Lung's rebirth than because he actually feared the young man's wrath. It was at that time that Wong came back in holding little May Parker who was at the moment chugging down a baby bottle full of milk. Why the Sorcerer Supreme and his confidant would have a baby bottle among their various knick-knacks and do-dads he would never know and thought it would be safer not asking about. Willing the armor to disappear it vanished in a flash and he mentally made a note to ask the Doc at some later date to tweak the armor a bit to eliminate the flash. After all it would hardly due for him to sneak into an alley to change only to give off the mother of all camera flashes that would lure the curious and suspicious to investigate. Still he had to give the doc credit, this suit would definitely allow him to spring the good news to Pete and MJ without letting them know who he was and where they could find their kid. He figured he could arrange a meeting with Pete in private somewhere remote and then spill the entire story about how his kid was alive and kicking. He knew he would have to explain that the guy wouldn't be getting his kid back due to the simple fact that he didn't have the security to keep the baby safe from the Norman Osborns of the world. He was of a divided mind about whether or not to agree to visits between parent and child but he decided in the end that he would cross that bridge when he came to it.

"Well thanks for the help Doc." , Xander said as he took the baby into his arms, "You can put the price of the armor on my tab right next to the dragon poison and refined repartee."

"Yes, quite." Doc Strange said with a roll of his eyes.

The Next Day, Approaching the Daily Grind 

"'Shirley I know I cut out on my shift yesterday but I really did go to find Pete and Ben like I said I was but darn it the transit system in this town is a real mess!'" , Xander said to himself for the umpteenth time as he tried to come up with an excuse to give his boss lady, "Nah! Can't use that one! I used it last time."

It had been like this pretty much since he had departed his apartment an hour ago after asking Trixie to look after little May until he got back from work. She hadn't minded in exchange for hiding some of the money she skimmed of the top of her pimp's take of her night's work in his apartment. From her point of view he owed her quite a bit more than he was giving her and she deserved it for having to put up with some of her more kinky and rough customers. He had agreed more because he didn't have any real choice since he couldn't exactly bring the kid to work with him without having to deal with a boat load of questions upon arrival. Besides as far as he was concerned Trixie was an okay gal despite her profession and trustworthy enough that she would at least try to be on her best behavior around the kid. Besides she worked primarily nights anyway so it was convenient for them both so long as he was home before sunset.

Turning the corner he saw something before him he thought he would never see so long as he lived in this city. Shirley was out in front of the Daily Grind putting up a 'CLOSED' sign and had all the security bars on the windows and door. It had pretty much been a given that the owner and runner of the Daily Grind had a serious work ethic and never closed unless it was serious. After all some employers would be lenient when it came to their employees being a little late and in this town would be understanding if the employee experienced some public transit problems involving super villains. Shirley however was of the belief that if you moved to this town willingly than you should also take super villains into account when deciding when to leave for work. It was utterly ridiculous of course since super villains hardly kept nine to five hours and a person could hardly expect an employee run through a crossfire between heroes and villains just to get to work. Put that all together and the sight of Shirley closing up the Daily Grind was not only a threat to his income but decidedly strange. Deciding he wanted an explanation he strode up to the woman and got about seven feet from her before she heard him coming and turned around.

"Hey Shirl'! Before you say anything I just want to say that I'm sorry I didn't come back yesterday but I got caught up in some traffic jam caused by some super-moron with a thing for explosives." , Xander said believing that getting his excuse out of the way first was the right thing to do, "I promise I'll work off the hours I still owe ya over the next couple of days. However if I'm going to be doin' that I'm going to need you to actually open up the place so I can work."

For a moment Shirley just stood there seemingly shocked that he would ask her to open up the Daily Grind, as if there was some special reason she should not. However comprehension dawned in her eyes and a shadowed look filled them in a way that Xander knew all too well from his time in Sunnydale.

"You don't know do you? I .. I don't know how to tell you this. You two were good friends and knew how to make everyone laugh." , Shirley said as she seemed to fight to maintain her composure, "Ben's dead. He was murderered last night by the Green Goblin. To remember him I've decided to close the Daily Grind for the rest of the week. You can start working again next week."

"Oh." Xander said as the news hit him square in the head like a kick from Buffy.


	5. A Choice to be made and an enemy reveale...

**Note**: This section is to respond to the various questions and criticisms of those who have reviewed the previous chapter.

**Dragonmaster **: The reasons why I wrote that only the bad guys would want to tap into Kung Lung's power is simple. The good guys would view the Dragon King's power as pure evil and thus would want no part of it. They would want to destroy it or imprison it somewhere. The bad guys on the other hand would seek to get it just because it would increase their own power and to hell with the potential consequences to them or others. Plus most bad guys are pretty arrogant so they probably think that even if they can't find a way to get the power but not the spirit that their own minds are strong enough to suppress Kung Lung's mind. Those are two qualities almost every super villain and bad guy has in spades : arrogance and a lust for power. Even if there are a few bad guys out there who are smart enough not to want to risk being taken over by Kung Lung they would probably prefer removing Xander and Kung Lung from play rather than waste time and resources trying to find a safe way to tap into the power.

As for why the Sorcerer Supreme can't do anything more effective or permanent to suppress Kung Lung or help Xander the reason is simple. HE'S JUST A MORTAL DESPITE ALL THE POWER! **Ahem** sorry about that. You just have to keep in mind that just because he is the current Sorcerer Supreme does not mean he knows everything about anything mystical and magical. After all if being the Sorcerer Supreme made you immortal than there would never be any need to pass the torch onto a successor. Add to that the fact that a person can only read so much in a normal human lifespan and even if Strange plunked himself down in his library and read book after book for the rest of his life he would only barely chip the surface of the amount of knowledge out there. So while he may be knowledgeable about things mystical he does not know everything. Also keep in mind that all knowledge of Kung Lung with the exception of the prophecy mentioned in the beginning of the fanfic was erased. It would be reckless for Strange to try and cure or aid Xander without first researching Kung Lung and his magicks beforehand. After all it would be like a doctor trying to treat or cure a disease without reading and researching it. Such a doctor could just as easily make the disease stronger or kill the patient. Doctor Strange knows this which is why he hasn't taken the steps you recommended. Also he can't exactly request that one of the surviving Dragon Kings to come over so he can study one of them in the hopes of using the knowledge gleaned from that to help Xander.

After all keep in mind that these are Dragon Kings. That places them on a power level equal to that of Odin, Zeus and many other heavy hitter gods and goddesses. Kung Lung and the other Dragon Kings are not at all like the Buffy villains on the TV show. Some of the readers who read and collect comic books might recall the story arc in the Thor comic books where he became ruler of Asgard and wielder of the Odinforce(basically a power that only the ruler of Asgard has). After the issue when certain elements of the Earth destroyed Asgard after Thor brought it to Midgard the Lord of Asgard decided to conquer the Earth and impose his laws and ways of thinking on the world. Naturally the heroes of the world and even some of the villains tried to stop Thor and the other Norse gods but one by one they fell. All those heroes who confronted Thor directly were easily dispatched with the power he possessed. What I wish to convey to the readers is that is the kind of power that Kung Lung Wielded at his peak and what he will wield again should he be resurrected. While it is true that Kung Lung is currently weakened where he is inside of Xander that by no means would make it easy to remove him from the Zeppo. Also if you recall Xander's description of being infused with Kung Lung's essence he described something being burned into every cell of his body. In actuality something was being burned into his body, Kung Lung himself. He and Xander are in a very real way joined at the genetic level. Any attempt at removal would undoubtably be extremely painful and perhaps even fatal to Xander. So if you take the sheer power of Kung Lung, the lack of knowledge about Kung Lung and the Dragon Kings themselves and the fact that Kung Lung and Xander are so tightly bound together and restoring Xander to normal or even treating him will not be as easy as you seem to think it will be.

This is how I wanted it from the beginning. In my opinion some of the best characters in the Marvel universe are ones that have a burden to bear one way or the other. For Spider-Man it is his obsession with the saying 'With Great Power Comes Great Responsibility' and for the X-Men it is their powers such as Rogue who cannot touch another living being without hurting them. That is what Kung Lung and his powers are to Xander. Xander by his very nature wants to help people and the power of a Dragon King would certainly help him to do that. However in using those powers he risks releasing a powerful evil back into the world so he must carefully weigh each situation as it occurs before tapping into Kung Lung's power. The inclusion of the armor last chapter was meant to make it slightly easier for Xander to use the power of the Black Dragon King for good rather than evil. It does not mean he can use it as freely as Cyclops uses his optic blasts because as I mentioned earlier Kung Lung's power is great and if Xander used it to the fullest it would probably overload whatever spells Strange put on it.

The potion Strange created is only meant to undo the majority of the progress Kung Lung's essence might have made when Xander tapped into the power of Kung Lung. Think of it like this : say that the whole of Xander's body can be represented by a group of one hundred units. After being infused with Kung Lung's essence ten of those units became territory firmly in the grip of Kung Lung. Each time Xander taps into the power of Kung Lung the Dragon King's essence spreads to other units. The number of units depends on the level of power or the Dragon ability the Zeppo chooses to use as well as how long he allows this power or those abilities to remain in use. The potion/serum Strange devised when employed purifies the units under attack and pushes Kung Lung's essence back into the original ten units. Now you may ask 'if the serum can push it back into the original ten units then why can Strange not devise a serum to purify the remaining ten units?'. The answer is that the current serum is a diluted form of a poison that is deadly to most dragons. In its pure form it would kill a dragon within moments of being introduced into the blood stream. In this fanfic though as you may have noticed use of the serum/potion causes Xander enough pain in its diluted form and if he was given the poison in its purest form it would likely kill him along with the virus. Kinda like a doctor succeeding in killing the disease only to lose the patient as well.

What I meant as far as the armor being as much a part of Xander as Kung Lung is that he doesn't have to store the armor in the closet or a suitcase. When the armor is not in use it is transformed into energy and is infused into Xander's body as something similar to electro-magnetic energy. I just wanted Xander to have a 'super hero outfit' of his own as well as something that would allow him to use some of Kung Lung's power in battle without having to run off later like he really, really needs to use the washroom halfway through the fight. With the armor being a part of him as energy when it is not in use he doesn't have to worry about having to make it back to his apartment or room to get it when he really needs it. It is not alive in the organic sense so Kung Lung cannot take it over. However it will repair itself if Xander waits long enough after it has been damaged without summoning the armor. Also the armor acts like a heavy weight on Kung Lung's shoulders within Xander. A sprinter with no additional weight could make it to the finish line a lot easier and faster than a sprinter with more than double his body weight on his shoulders and that is what the armor acts like for Kung Lung's essence. Xander can still use the Dragon powers when he has the armor on but the spread of Kung Lung's essence will be severely slowed down by the added 'weight'. The armor will not stop the spread of the essence but it will slow it down considerably so long as Xander doesn't call on too much of it at once. If Xander got really pissed off and dead set on revenge causing him to summon as much of Kung Lung's power as he could muster all at once it would overwhelm the armor and render its weight system mention above useless and perhaps cause the armor to shatter. After all Kung Lung is on the same level as the kings of the gods of the various pantheons around the world. Doctor Strange might be powerful but he is no God or Goddess.

As for the 'Xander holding onto little May' issue I have decided to finally crumble to the demands of the reviewers. When I came up with the possibility I was looking at it from a rational and objective point of view. As far as Xander knows Peter and MJ Parker are just your average American couple with an undefined connection to the web slinger. Do you really think they could stand a chance of protecting little May against the various mercs and maybe supervillains Osborn might send their way? If your average American couple could stand up to the likes of Viper or the Hobgoblin then America would be the safest country in the world. However we all know that is not the case with the Marvel universe. Also Peter and MJ are barely able to support themselves on their income and a few weeks before the Revelations story arc Peter was laid off from the the Daily Bugle. He is now regulated to being an freelance photographer with no steady paycheck and no idea when or if he will be hired again much money he will make. So there is no way they could buy a security system good enough to keep Osborn's operatives out and little May safe. So with these facts in mind it was perfectly reasonable of Xander to be leaning towards keeping May with him since Osborn has no idea who has the child at the moment. Ask yourself 'what would be the right thing to do? To place a precious object in a place with inadequate security or to keep it in a location that no one knows about?'. However with two readers firmly against Xander keeping May and many more likely against it as well I have decided to eliminate that plot thread and have May returned to the Parkers.

I am just a big fan of the Spider-Girl title that sprung from that 'What If …?' issue where they had May returned to the Parkers instead of disappearing into the abyss of lost plots that seems to be the case in the mainstream Marvel Universe. I wanted the universe that Xander and company were living in to be the one where May was returned to Peter and MJ. At the same time though I thought it would be kinda interesting to add taking care of a baby to Xander's list of troubles as well as when he joins an as yet undetermined super hero team. Still if it is the will of the readers that Peter and MJ get little May back then so be it.

**Calen** : I submit to your demand to have May returned to the Parkers. As for why Peter was not at MJ's side in the hospital the reason for that is he was busy helping Ben fight Mendal Strom the Robot Master in a condemned building. He wanted to be by his wife's side but he did not wish to leave his 'cousin' in the lurch. He got out of there and on his way to the hospital the moment Strom was defeated but by then it was too late and little May was already in the hands of the enemy.

**Silverkitkat **: Ben's full name is Ben Reilly. He is essentially Peter Parker's clone. He is a character that survived the whole clone saga that gave so many Spidey fans a headache. He has all of Peter's memories up until the moment the cloning process took place. Do not ask me for details about the clone saga because I only started collecting Spider-Man comics just before the whole Onslaught mess so I know only bits and pieces that have been referred to in later issues. Ben is called Peter's cousin because it is a safer explanation to tell others then telling them Ben is Peter's clone.

This concludes the responses to certain reviewers.

**__**

Central Park, That Afternoon 

_Ben is dead._ Xander thought as he tried to bring the thought into reality and accept it.

He had come here almost right after taking to Shirley and had been sitting on this bench ever since going over the events of the last forty-eight hours. So far it was an overuse of Kung Lung's powers, rescuing Pete's kid from a supposedly deceased Norman Osborn senior, got a suit of armor from Doc Strange and one of his best buds and co-workers got killed by one of Osborn's stooges. He knew that it had never been officially proven that the Green Goblin worked for Norman but he had read Ben Urich's "Legacy of Evil" and felt that there were just too many coincidences to dismiss the idea. If that was the case then he now had two reasons to want to toss that monster into a hurt locker for a couple of days with him being the one to administer the pain. It had been Osborn who had destroyed his parents and turned them into the drunks they were today and it had been one of his henchmen that had killed Ben in cold blood. One way or another he was going to deliver some righteous payback to the asshole and he had all the time in the world to find just the right form for that payback.

"Mind if I sit down?" came a rather cultured voice to his right.

Looking in the direction of the voice Xander was shocked to see one of the largest and most muscled looking smart guys he had ever seen standing only a few feet from him. He had brown hair and blue eyes was almost six feet tall and was wearing what looked like some kind of casual leisure suit. It was at the halfway point between dressing casually and dressing formally and it looked like this guy was fairly well heeled judging from the quality of the threads.

"Sure. It's a free country." Xander replied as he slid to the right to allow the genius jock to sit.

"That it is. Hank McCoy." Hank said extending his hand for a handshake.

"Kevin Lancaster." Xander said shaking the hand extended before him.

"Pardon me for saying but you look like a man with a lot on his mind." Hank said in a conversational tone of voice.

"Yeah well we all have our troubles and grievances mine last night just happened to have a rocket propelled glider and liked to wear a lot of green." Xander said a little bit cynically as he Hank have some of the truth but not all of it.

"Ah yes! The jolly jaded one. I presume you were a friend of the young man who was killed." Hank said his voice never losing the light tone it always seemed to have.

"His name was Ben Reilly and I really don't think it is something to be taken so lightly." Xander stated in a tone that made it clear the man ought to take the death of his friend more seriously or there was going to be trouble.

"Do you think your friend would want you to mourn his death sitting on a bench in the park? Personally I've always preferred the way the Irish mourn someone who has passed away." McCoy said letting his gaze drift over the various people milling about the park.

"What way is that? Getting so drunk you can't remember why you were so bummed out to begin with. No thank you!" Xander said bitterly as he remembered all to well how his parents dealt with their problems and how well that worked out for him.

"Partially. The Irish choose to focus on how their fallen friend lived and the good times they had rather than the fact that he was no longer with them." , Hank said seeming to be even more upbeat than he was before, "After all isn't it more fun to remember the good times rather than the bad?"

"I suppose." Xander said as he let the imparted wisdom settle into his mind.

"Well then why don't you tell me a bit about your friend Ben Reilly? It might make you feel better." Hank suggested seemingly determined to brighten Xander's mood.

So for the next hour straight Xander told him about his friend and co-worker at the Daily Grind Ben Reilly. From the first moment that they met when he applied for a job at the diner to the last time he saw the blondie alive the day before Halloween. All the witty one liners and wise cracks they exchanged, the frustration they caused Shirley during the days when they worked at the same time. As the minutes ticked by he did indeed feel his mood rising as his thoughts drifted farther and farther from Ben's death and closer to the good times they had when he was alive. By the time the hour was up Xander still hurt at the loss of his first friend in his new life as Kevin Lancaster but now at least he felt as though he could continue on with life without a dark cloud over his head.

"Well since I no longer see that dismal dark cloud over your head I must conclude that my work here is done." Hank said as he rose from the park bench.

"You mean you regularly stroll through the park and cheer perfect strangers up when you think they're feeling down?" Xander asked half honestly asking a question half making a funny.

"Of course. We all need a little cheering up from time to time and as a believer in karma I believe what goes around comes around." Hank said in a tone that mirrored Xander's.

"Well thanks for the chat Hank. See you around." Xander said and with that he figured he should probably get back to his place and take care of little May.

It was at the thought of the baby of MJ and Peter Parker that a thought occurred to him and he decided to field it off of his newly met good Samaritan.

"Hey Hank? How good are you at hypothetical problem solving?" Xander asked before the large six foot man had gotten more than five steps.

"One of my favorite types of problems." , Hank said as he turned around, "Shoot."

"Well let's say, hypothetically, that you stumble upon the final moments of a kidnapping. Let us further say that the kidnapper is about to hand the baby over to a minion to spirit away to who knows where but you zip in and pull the big save." , Xander said as he tried to lay out what happened without giving a whole lot away, "You get away without being seen or identified by the perps. When you have time to think you remember one of the people involved in particular. It turns out this guy is a big time industrialist with money to burn from here to the end of the world and rumored to be involved with less than legal activities."

"Interesting. Go on." Hank said as he seemed to be considering and examining each fact with the utmost seriousness.

"Well here is the problem to solve. This industrialist has gone to a great deal of trouble to pull this kidnapping off without leaving a trace of his presence or that there even was a kidnapping in the first place. The baby was stolen right out of the delivery room." , Xander said as he put the final pieces of his dilemma into place, "That being said it is unlikely that he's going to just give up now that someone unknown has made off with his prize. That leaves you with a little dilemma. Now the natural thing to do is to return the kid to his folks but the industrialist is probably smart enough to have someone watch the parents' home in case the good Samaritan does this. Add to that the fact that the parents are barely scrapping by financially and can't afford a security system good enough to keep the really good crooks out and handing the kid back to the parents would leave her open to being kidnapped again. What do you do?"

Hank didn't immediately respond to this but instead decided to take a few minutes to look at the entire problem from front to back. When five minutes passed without any answer Xander was wondering if the muscle bound genius was ever going to give his solution to the scenario.

"What about telling the police? With you as this witness to the kidnapping it shouldn't be too hard to put this industrialist behind bars." Hank asked as he seemed to be probing for more details to the situation.

"The guy is officially regarded as dead by the world at large. Like dead for a decade so the police would think you're nuts saying that he did it. Plus this guy has money and likely influence so even if he was arrested he could easily find a way to get away with it." Xander answered certain that Osborn would have little trouble destroying evidence and silencing witnesses one way or another.

"Do the parents have any friends who might be able to lend a hand?" Hank asked as he looked at Xander like he was a chalkboard with an interesting equation on it.

"They have a friend who is .. well .. a security guard I guess you could say. A good one from most accounts but this friend can't just plunk himself down inside their home and watch the baby twenty four seven. He has his own life to live and can't ignore his own responsibilities no matter how good a friend he is to them." Xander said knowing that if the Parker family did indeed have a connection to Spider-Man that they could call on even the web-slinger would have to leave sometime.

"What's your solution to the problem?" Hank asked apparently wanting to see what he thought was the right answer before submitting his own.

"Well up until now I thought that since the industrialist didn't know who had the baby that the safest spot for the child would be with me. After all the bad guy can't kidnap what he can't find. I'd try to arrange down the line visits between the baby and the parents but until the industrialist was caught and put in jail the baby would stay with me. It made sense and had only the child's best interests at heart." , Xander said as his own mind reviewed his reasoning, "Now though I'm not too sure."

"Well it is most certainly a nasty dilemma but I think that the parents should be included in finding a solution. After all it is their child and no matter how good your intentions it would be wrong to take them completely out of the loop." Hank said with a tinge to his voice that seemed to imply he had filled in the blanks that Xander had left blank on purpose.

"Yeah. Somehow I figured that's what you would say Hank. Thanks for the debate." Xander said as he himself rose from the bench to stand near Hank.

"No problem. I am always up for an intellectual discussion." Hank said as he seemed to spot someone over Xander's shoulder that he recognized.

With that they both walked away from each other but once he was about a hundred yards away from Hank he turned to see who exactly it was who it was that had caught the big guy's attention. His jaw almost dropped as he recognized Trish Tilby the news anchor who broke the Legacy Virus story as was pretty much the go to person when it came to information on mutant related news. Looked like Hank McCoy had it all from brains to brawn to one helluva girlfriend making googlie eyes at him in the middle of the park. He must not have a single worry in the world.

Xander's Apartment Building, One Hour Later 

"Thanks for look after little May for me Trixie." Xander said as he took the baby girl into his arms.

"No problem Kev. Let's me get some practice in just in case I ever decide to settle down with Mr. Right someday." Trixie said with a flirtatious wink.

"Well I wish you all the best in that regard." Xander said a bit uneasily as he stepped out of her apartment and closed the door behind him.

Trixie was in a playful mood today which either meant that either she had a **very** good time last night and wanted more or she hadn't gotten any last night and was looking to work off some excess energy. At the moment he wasn't entirely certain which of the two was the better scenario but he was certain that he didn't want to become the focus of that energy. Don't get him wrong, Trixie was definitely hottie material and she was careful enough with her clients that he didn't have to worry about any STDs but somehow he thought she might have some issues with his eyes. He knew first hand how quickly people could go from friendly to frightened to homicidal when it came to discovering someone they knew was in fact a mutant. True he wasn't a mutant but that hadn't stopped the people of Sunnydale from turning on him thinking he was one after the Mayor was defeated. Besides he really didn't need his cover blown at this point because he would be really cheezed off if he had to relocate to somewhere else in the country.

Once he was back inside his apartment he was breathed a sigh of relief that he hadn't run into his landlord on the way back because he just knew that he would have to pay more on the rent if the moron found out there was a baby in here now. Fortunately little May Parker seemed to be sleeping so hopefully it would be awhile before she would wake up crying for food or a change of diapers. That would leave him with some time to think through how he could exactly break the news to Pete and MJ without losing control of the situation. He was leaning more and more to giving the two of them a say in where their baby would be the safest but he wasn't about to just walk up to the door and hand her over. He still believed that the Parker home was under surveillance so he had to arrange a meeting away from their home as well as abandoned so it would be easy to pick up on anyone approaching. He wasn't entirely familiar with the city as a whole but he did know of a few parking garages that would be pretty much empty late at night and if he named the top level as the site of the meeting then he could limit the ways in and out.

_Then again in this city there are probably more than a few wackos with weird ways of getting around._ Xander thought as he ran through the list of costumed crooks who could either fly or had access to some kind of aircraft.

Still it was his best option at the moment given that he was pretty much making this up as he went and had never done this before. With the location now chosen he now just had to come up with a way to let the Parker's know the truth without setting himself up to be captured either by the Parkers or one of Osborn's hench-people. If either happened it was only a matter of time before they figured out who he was and tracked down May. He couldn't just send them a letter saying to meet him because that letter could get intercepted at any number of points along the way. Add that to the problem of making Pete believe that what the letter said was true and he had some thinking to do. How could he prove to Pete that his baby was still alive without actually bringing the kid with him where she could be abducted.

_Hey! I have it! DNA!_ He thought as he realized that this was the age of DNA tests to prove parentage.

Placing little May down on his bed he went to the kitchen and got the scissors. Coming back he used the scissors to give the kid her first haircut ever cutting off a few locks of newborn hair without giving her any obvious bald spots. It was not easy by any stretch of the imagination as babies as a rule were not born with much hair to begin with but he managed to snip off a small handful without too much trouble. Grabbing an fresh envelope from his dresser he slipped the hair in for safe keeping until he was finished writing the actual letter. Once that was done he found a sheet of blank paper and pondered for a moment what exactly he should write in the letter.

_Best to keep it brief and to the point._ He thought as he began writing.

He went through several drafts before he finally got it right but once he was done he folded the paper and slipped it into the envelope. Now all he had to do was deliver it which unfortunately he had to do in person since there was no way he was trusting the U.S postal service. They took **FOREVER** to deliver anything anywhere!

**__**

Midnight, Across the Street from the Parker Home 

_Well here goes nothing! _Xander thought to himself as he crept across the street towards the Parker home.

He had already cased the area as best he could for any suspicious vehicles that shouldn't be there or questionable electronic equipment on the rooftops of the neighboring houses but found nothing. Not that he was exactly an expert at recognizing modern surveillance gear but his temporary possession at Halloween he wasn't completely clueless on the subject. Unfortunately since the uniform of soldier he had worn had been about ten years old then so was his information on military level equipment and hardware. Still it had only been a little over twenty-four hours since he had rescued little May so hopefully Osborn was still clueless and hadn't had time to up the level of surveillance beyond phone taps and basic video surveillance. He had decided to go in with his armor on just in case there were any nosey neighbors peeking out their windows at the moment. It would eliminate the potential trouble of Pete hearing that someone matching Kevin Lancaster's appearance was creeping around his home. Better that he thought it was some unknown costume that had no forwarding address or official record that could be used to track him down. When he reached the front door he took out the envelope from underneath his chest plate and slipped it through the mail slot on the door.

Just then he thought he heard something and whipped around to see what it was only to find empty air and a neighborhood identical to the way he had last seen it. Deciding to make sure he decided to see if Doc Strange's armor worked as advertised and used Kung Lung's essence to enhance his vision. As the darkness seemed to recede and all the shadows disappeared he now could see into every open area, nook and cranny in the area with amazing acuity. However that changed little as he saw only what had been there before so there was nothing to worry about on that end. He decided that it must have been his rookieness at all of this that made him hear things and began to make his way back across the street. He would keep the armor on for a couple of blocks since he still hadn't managed to figure out a way to keep the flash from manifestation and disappearance of the armor down to a minimum. He would have to use it only sparingly and hope that he could keep people from associating him with it.

It was about an hour later when he had finally exited the quaint collection of houses and finally began to enter the taller and more business oriented buildings that he heard another suspicious sound and this time he was sure that he wasn't hearing things. It sounded like a 'thwip' sound but for the life of him he couldn't figure out what could make such a sound where it be a person or a machine. Still he doubted that it was a natural occurrence that anyone who lived in the area could say had always been there which meant that someone was watching him. That being the case he had too choices which consisted of either trying to lose his tail and de-armor himself so he could get lost in the crowd or confront the person and hope he wasn't biting off more than he could chew. Extending the metal claws in both his boots and his gauntlets he climbed up to the roof of a store across the street and after retracting the claws simply stood there waiting for his anonymous pursuer to become not so anonymous. He didn't have to wait long as about five seconds later who should drop down in front of him but a certain annoying arachnid in red and blue spandex.

"Hiya! So which one are you?" Spider-Man asked in a perfectly conversational tone of voice with a hand on his hip.

"Excuse me?" Xander asked a bit confused by the question.

"Oooh I know! You're Vader Black aren't you! So where are your pals Luke White and Solo Red?" Spidey asked continuing with his trademark repartee as Xander caught on to the Power Ranger themed cracks about his outfit.

You're gonna get it for this Strange, Xander thought rolling his eyes before he replied "Well white boy is putting some more starch in his long johns and ol' Hot Head is busy losing his shirt at a back room poker game somewhere. So I'm here by my lonesome for tonight."

The Web-head seemed a bit taken aback by his reply though whether it was because it sounded weird hearing James Earl Jones cracking wise or because some unknown had managed to one up him in his a sparring match of wits was unknown.

"Well that's too bad I'm sure that they would have loved peeking in windows like you seem to!" , Spidey said with his tone becoming slightly more threatening, "Now how about you tell me what you were up to so I can swing you over to the local cop house so they can get you into a nice cozy cell."

_ Oh great! He thinks I'm a peeping tom!_ Xander thought incredulously before saying, "Look there was no peeking involved Spider-Man. I was just delivering a letter, you know how lousy the post office is in this town."

"You mean this letter?" Spider-Man asked pulling out the very letter Xander had slipped under the door an hour beforehand.

Well I guess that settles the debate of whether or not he's connected to the Parkers. , Xander thought as his plans began to fall apart and replied "Yeah that letter. So what do you always go through other people's mail or are the Parkers special?"

This apparently was the wrong thing to say to the wall crawler as the web-head immediately took up a more offensive stance. Obviously he had touched a sore spot and had to work quick to keep this from degenerating into a smackdown event.

"Who are you? Who do you work for?" Spidey asked aggressively and sounded more than ready to pound him into the ground if he produced the wrong name.

"I have no name nor do I work for anyone. I simply have business to conduct with Mr and Mrs Parker and did not trust the postal service do deliver the letter unopened." Xander replied as honestly as he could as he truly had not come up with a name for his armored form.

"What kind of business?" Spidey asked with less hostility than before but still ready to fight if necessary.

"Personal business. The type that you don't discuss outside of the family." Xander replied not knowing just how close the webhead and the Parkers were to each other.

Unfortunately this yet again set Spidey on edge and ready to attack causing the Zeppo to curse this minefield of words he seemed to be walking through with the man in front of him.

"Somehow I don't picture you showing up at Parker family barbeques so I'll ask you again! What kind of business!" Spider asked with the tone that said that if you do not start spilling your guts voluntarily you would do so unvoluntarily.

"I happened to acquire something they were led to believe they had lost Halloween night. I wanted to set up a meeting to discuss the matter with them." Xander replied deciding that for the moment honesty was the best policy.

Later when he looked back on this encounter he would curse himself not for stepping on another conversational mine but for setting off a nuke as within the span of three seconds Spidey leapt across the roof, grabbed him by the armor and slammed him hard against the brick chimney of the building they were on. However right up there with the surprise of Spidey's violent reaction was surprise at how little he was affected by the attack itself. If he had been in his normal clothes and been slammed up against a brick chimney he would have some nasty bruises and maybe some cuts but with the armor he felt no pain at all. It was simply the jarring motion of being slammed backwards but then suddenly coming to a stop and nothing else making him very impressed with the armor he wore. However that still left him with an angry wall crawler to deal with which could seriously put his armor through its paces if he didn't say things just right.

"What are you talking about? Are you working for Osborn?" Spidey all but yelled in his face but this time it was the web-head's choice of words that set off a mine.

Xander's anger peaked at the accusation that he would ever work for that monster Osborn much less kidnap a helpless baby for him or anyone. Thus before he could cool down and talk rationally his anger caused him to fire off a fierce haymaker that while not perfect in technique was fast enough and strong enough to knock the web slinger back a few steps dazed. This was a bit of good luck for the web head for if Xander had been of a mind to tap into the power of Kung Lung he might very well have sent the wall crawler a couple of blocks. The Zeppo's eyes were aglow with anger and it was apparently bright enough to show through the special lenses of his helmet as Spider-Man seemed to pause rather than launch a counter-attack.

"I would **never** work for that **monster**! He took my parents and reduced them to abusive drunks! **Never**! **Never** associate me with Norman Osborn again!" Xander all but yelled at Spidey as he made it clear that he had stabbed a knife in a major sore spot with him.

This vehement denial of being one of Osborn's cronies dispelled Spider-Man's hostility and actually made him look a little guilty that he had jumped to the wrong conclusion in such a horrendous manner. However that did not stop him from repeating the first question which the web slinger seemed determined to have an answer for one way or another.

"The Parker's baby girl is alive. Osborn tricked them into believing that their baby had died in child birth by placing operatives in key positions to manipulate the entire situation." , Xander explained as he tried to reign in his own anger, "He replaced Mrs Parker's normal doctor with one of his own and I suspect he had someone slip something into her food that very day to induce labor. Fortunately when one of his agents went to the docks to board a yacht and leave the country I was there to step in and rescue the child."

"M-m-may is alive?" Spider-Man asked as if his mind was on the verge of going into shock at the revelation that little May Parker was still among the living.

"Yes. The meeting I wished to arrange with the Parkers was meant to be a way of deciding what to do next but now you've interfered. That complicates things." Xander said in reply and the mention of 'meeting' and 'deciding seemed to bring him back to himself.

"What's to decide? May must be returned to her parents!" Spidey said firmly making it clear he was unwilling to be moved from this position.

"To what end. Osborn is still out there and he will likely make future attempts to abduct her and despite the fact that they would fight to keep May safe what chance could they really have against the people Osborn would send?" Xander asked as he hoped that Spidey might be able to think of something that would let May return to her folks.

"They'd have me! I'd protect May!" Spidey replied leaving no doubt that he would give it everything he had to protect the baby.

"Could you protect her twenty four hours a day and seven days a week? I don't pretend to know what kind of relationship with the Parkers you have but I doubt you'd be able to neglect your own life forever." , Xander said pointing out the obvious hole in the web head's plan, "Sooner or later you'd have to leave and Osborn would exploit that fact for sure. So tell me how do we overcome this problem? Somehow we have to come up with something that will keep little May safe that the Parkers will be able to maintain on their own. Any ideas?"

For awhile Spidey just stood there immersed in thought as he seemed to wrestle with the facts to come up with a solution that would work. For the life of him though Xander couldn't see any real way to keep May one hundred percent safe when limited to the Parkers income and Spidey's occasional chances at being babysitter. No security system they could afford would even slow down the type of mercs Osborn would send their way and Spidey had a life of his own and that meant he had responsibilities. Those responsibilities would force him to leave his post from time to time and that would give Osborn's goons a chance to act. He'd offer his own services as babysitter and watchdog but he had his own handicaps that would make him more of a threat than a help. His powers were based in magic that he could only use in emergencies and despite the progress he had made as a fighter since meeting Buffy he still would get his butt whupped by a trained merc. So it all came down to the web slinger's response how things would go.

"Actually I can be there all the time." Spider-Man replied and then to Xander's surprise the web head reached up and before the Zeppo could stop him removed his mask.

_ Okay! I am not officially shocked!_ Xander thought as he took in the face of the one man he never expected to be Spider-Man.

"Pete!" Xander exclaimed in shock which sounded kinda funny coming out in his mouth in his James Earl Jones voice.

Unfortunately because he had called Peter by his first name in such a familiar way he inadvertently tipped him off that the man in the armor was someone he knew.

"You know me?" Pete asked as he seemed to try and deduce the identity of the man in front of him.

Now Xander knew what had caused Pete to stand there with his mask on for so long. He had been debating whether or not to reveal who he truly was in order to prove that he could protect his daughter. Now Xander had to decide whether or not to trust Pete with his identity. In the end though it wasn't really as tough as he bet it had been with Peter given that he didn't have to worry about a rogues gallery of villains finding out. Flicking a mental switch in his mind he sent his armor to where ever it went when he wasn't using it and showed who he was beneath the armor.

"Kevin?" Peter exclaimed in an almost perfect imitation of what Xander had done moments ago.

"Yeah it's me Peter." Xander said not sure what else there was to say besides that to a hero like the web head.

"How?" Pete asked obviously inquiring about the armor.

"It's a long story but let's just say I have a knack for being in the wrong place at the right time." , Xander replied deciding to keep the more important secrets a secret, "In any case though it looks like there's only one thing to do as far as May is concerned. I'll .."

Before Xander could finish his sentence Peter suddenly and without warning lunged forward tackling him to the ground. Just as the Zeppo was about to ask what had gotten into the idiot when he spotted the reason for the web slinger's actions. Just past where he had been standing a minute ago was a metal dart and given his luck he was pretty sure it was filled with either a tranquilizer or poison. Fortunately though they both were used to thinking quick on their feet and sprang into action as Xander called upon his armor and Peter pulled his mask back on. Once that was done though the person who had shot the dart figured that the jig was up and emerged from his hiding place to handle things in a more direct manner. That wouldn't have been too bad given that it would have been a two on one fight with the odds in Xander's favor but the shooter had friends. Lots and lots of friends. Over twenty to be exact and they all seemed intent on causing them bodily harm or the cutting and breaking variety. However it was the symbol on their outfits that had Xander worried as he had seen it many times before every time caught sight of his bare back in the mirror. It was the sign of Kung Lung that had been on his skin ever since he screwed up Mayor Wilkens' ritual and it was no small shock to see the symbol on someone else.

They were of a variety of nationalities from around the world and all garbed in clothes that were a weird cross between traditional ninja wear and coats from the Matrix movies. All were armed with a similar mix of blades and firearms making it clear that they were prepared for both close range and long range combat. However that didn't give him any help in figuring out who these guys were and what they wanted besides what the symbol implied.

"Who are you?" Xander asked as he tried to keep his cool and an eye on each of the newly arrived attackers.

"I would think that was obvious Vessel. We are the descendants of those who followed the mighty being that dwells within you. The mighty Dragon King Kung Lung!" an Asian man said judging on the shape and color of his eyes which was the only part of him that wasn't covered by his clothing.

"Impossible! There might not be any official record of Kung Lung's followers but I doubt that the other Dragon Kings would work so hard to erase all mention of him and let your 'ancestors' live." Xander said trying to conceal his fear at what it might mean if they were speaking the truth.

"It is true that the Dragon Kings in co-operation with several other pantheons of Gods from around the world did their best to eradicate all trace of our Lord. They decimated the ranks of his followers until there was only a handful of them alive but that handful was more than enough to carry on his work." , the Asian man said with a mix of pride and anger, "It was one of those survivors who hid the means of our Lord's resurrection. It was intended that once the sword was sufficiently hidden that he would return and lead the efforts to pave the way for his return. Instead he was slain by a champion of the Dragon Kings before he could return and as a result the location of the sword was lost for hundreds of years. I think you can piece together the rest."

_Boy can I ever!_ Xander thought as his mind followed the logic and what he knew to their obvious conclusion.

For hundreds of years the sword had been hidden on the hellmouth beyond the reach of all who desired it until the Mayor stumbled upon it. The ritual to drain the sword of its power and its subsequent bonding with him must have sent up one helluva signal flare to those who knew what it was. From there it would have been relatively easy for them to track his movements from the scattered times when he had tapped too deeply into Kung Lungs power. The only reason it had probably taken them this long to find him was the sheer number of people in this city and the amount of ground they had to cover. Still the issue of how they had found him tonight remained a problem that he could not seem to figure out. He had not used his powers at all tonight and he was pretty sure that Kung Lung's essence hadn't progressed to the point where they could find him even if he didn't tap into it.

"How did you find me here? I find it hard to believe that you would have wasted any time at all once you found out who I was." Xander said attempting to find out just how much they knew about him.

"Truth be told it was only in the last day or so we have been able to narrow down our Lord's spirit down to you Vessel. Once we knew though the rest of the time was spent observing you to determine if you were a worthy vessel for our Lord." , the Asian Man said with barely veiled contempt, "You failed on all accounts. Therefore we have decided to expedite our Lord's resurrection. It was intended that the dart you dodged would have put you to sleep until we had managed to facilitate our Lord's resurrection. Now though we will have to take a more **painful** course of action."

With no further words apparently needed the followers of Kung Lung attacked and both the amazing Spider-man as well as Xander found themselves in a slightly lopsided fight. Now some might think that with his spider like strength, speed and agility Spider-man would be able to bounce around the enemies and take them out with ease. However to his surprise these warriors were proving to almost be as fast and as agile as he was leaving him with only his strength as an advantage. Fortunately though that meant that when one of his opponents was knocked down they tended to stay down but that was only with the direct hits. For glancing hits though they seemed to have a remarkable ability to block out pain which meant that the numbers weren't evening out as quickly as he would have liked.

For Xander though it was all he could do to block half their attacks and dodge the other half by a hair. These guys were **good** and even with his experience in dealing with enemies that were faster and stronger than him he was not doing half as good with them as Spidey was right then. It was all he could do to keep himself from being at the bottom of a pile on but he knew that it wouldn't last. Sooner or later they would get a hit in and then another and another until he was either unconscious or too injured to put up any fight at all. However there was only one way that he could see that he could turn the tide and take the offensive but it was probably exactly what they wanted. Make him use Kung Lung's power and help him reach the surface so he could take control and send him off into oblivion. So here he was between a rock and hard place trying to keep from getting run threw or be unexpectedly be made a head shorter with little chance of improving the situation safely. It was then that the warriors decided to change tactics on him. So far their blades were succeeding on doing little damage to the armor beyond ruining the paint job. This fact eventually got through to them causing them to decide a change in tactics was in order in the form of going from blades to guns. Potent guns if he was any judge as he felt round after round slam into his armor forcing him back up against the chimney that Pete had pushed him up against earlier. They weren't doing any conceivable damage to the armor itself but the force at which each bullet hit made up for that in a big way by making it feel as though he was being pounded in the chest by a jackhammer. Each blow hurt like hell and he knew that even with the enhanced healing abilities that were an automatic and involuntary result of his bond with Kung Lung he would be sore tomorrow.

_ Waitaminute! Maybe that's what they are trying to do!_ he thought as he considered the effect serious injuries would have on his person.

Perhaps they believed that if they inflicted enough damage on him that it would not only weaken his human spirit but also force the healing factor to work extra hard to keep his body alive. With his spirit weakened and his body drawing upon the power of Kung Lung to keep itself alive it would certainly make it easier for the dormant Dragon King to assert himself and eventually take over. How much damage needed to be done to make that happen was anyone's guess but Xander knew he couldn't allow that to happen if he could prevent it. With this knowledge he conceded that in order to prevent a complete loss he would have to make a small sacrifice right then and there. Focusing his consciousness away from his attackers he looked within himself and imagine the cloud of energy within him that was Kung Lung. In his mind Kung Lung was represented by an obsidian colored cloud of smoke where occasionally he could see golden eyes flash into existence for half a second before disappearing. Reaching out as though with an invisible hand he reached into the cloud and allowed a small portion of the power to flow into the rest of his body. He channeled the power as best he could into increasing his strength and his speed and with a flash of change he was back in the thick of the fight with his senses once more focused outward instead of inwards.

_I have to make this quick! I cannot allow the power of Kung Lung to remain like this for any extended period of time._ , Xander thought as he ducked under a volley of bullets, _The longer his power is allowed free reign the harder it will be for the diluted dragon poison to force the spread of his essence back to where it was before this battle!_

With solid determination in his eyes he dove into the group of enemies before him with a speed no mere human could match no matter how long they trained. With one hand he tore their weapons from their grasp and crushed them while in the other he threw them into one another with enough force to knock them into the air briefly before hitting the ground. His speed was such that without time to properly gauge his speed none of the warriors could time their shot to score more than a glancing blow on his armor. They were falling to him like common street thugs with the enhancements he made being more than enough to make up for his lack of skill. For a brief moment he reveled in the ease at which he was taking down those that moments ago had him frozen in a defensive strategy but he forced such thoughts down knowing that it was most likely Kung Lung's euphoria. Eventually he and Spidey succeeded in defeating the warriors and it was only the two of them who were left standing among the unconscious bodies littering the roof. Unfortunately they had little time to take stock of their injuries before someone could be heard clapping as though applauding the end of a theatre performance.

"Well done Mr. Lancaster. I see you have already learned to tap into the power of our Lord and controlling it rather than letting it control you. Commendable." , came the voice of a man who seemed to almost float from the street below onto the roof, "Most of the weak humans of this world would have been easily corrupted by his power and gone on some kind of killing spree to revel in the euphoria of the power. However I am afraid that I will have to employ less tasteful tactics to force your surrender."

With that he snapped his fingers and another figure appeared, apparently female, garbed in a black dress and hooded cloak appeared on the rooftop. In her arms though was something that froze Xander to the spot and made him fear to move so much as an inch in any direction. There nestled in the woman's arms was little May Parker asleep and unaware of the dagger that was placed mere inches from her throat. Fear grew within him as he knew that neither he nor Spider-Man possessed sufficient speed to cross the distance between them and the woman to rescue May before the baby was harmed. All their efforts and his own sacrifice in tapping into Kung Lung's power was for nothing for these warriors of Kung Lung had the ultimate trump card all along. The true leader of these warriors had won before the battle had begun and left him with only one real choice that he could see himself living with if he was capable of doing so at all later.

"Hand the baby over to Spider-Man and I will come with you." Xander said as he made the first gesture of good faith and banished his armor from sight.

"A noble warrior. Just as our sources said." , The man said but with a movement so quick his arm seemed to disappear he drew something from his pockets and fired twice with each thought hitting its designated target, "However not all that smart."

Before Xander had time to ask the predictable question 'What?' strength seemed to vanish like darkness at sunrise dropping him to his hands and knees fighting to remain conscious. It was a battle he could feel himself losing as his spirit seemed inadequate to the job without the body to back it up. He strained to look around to see if Spidey was in a position to do anything but he seemed to be in as bad a situation if not worse as he was only managing to keep himself up with his arms. He cursed himself for believing creeps like these might actually play fair and now both he and the web slinger were at their mercy.

"Call in the van. I do not want to stay here any longer than necessary. The fight will likely draw unwanted attention to this area and for the moment we must remain nothing more than a footnote in some obscure history book." Came the Man's voice through the increasing fog of drug induced sleep.

"What about Spider-Man and the child?" came a voice that for some reason seemed familiar to him.

"Kill them both. Spider-man would most certainly try and rescue the Vessel and cause us unnecessary aggravation. As for the child it would be unnecessarily cruel to leave it here to die a slow death on the slim chance that it might be found." The Man ordered with an icy chill in his voice that did not seem possible for a human.

With that casual ordering of the deaths of two beings who could not defend themselves Xander felt a fire begin to grow within him and melt away the icy chill of fear within him. These 'warriors' were no better than the vamps back home in Sunnydale if not worse because they supposedly were still in possession of a soul. It was a fact that he had seen in many of G-Man's old books that it was the absence of a human soul that allowed them to commit such heinous acts of murder and torture. He had believed up until now that while humans were capable of great evil that the presence of soul kept them from stooping to the same level as the demons of the world. Now though he had that comforting delusion torn away from him and that fact sparked a fire within him that spread through his body like wildfire. However the one thing that he would later reflect on and find strange was that as his feelings of rage spread throughout his body the effects of the sedative in his system seemed to be burned away to be replaced by a tangible combination of fury, disgust and power flowing through his veins. He could feels his eyes glow bright gold but that was not important as far as he was concerned as he rose to his feet much to the shock of the Man and the Woman. He could only guess how he looked to them but deciding to take advantage of their surprise he charged the woman in a burst of speed that rendered him naught but a blur. He tore May from her arms and with a savage kick that almost tore her lower jaw clear off sent her flying down several blocks before disappearing off the side of a building. With one threat ended he turned to the other only to find that the Man had drawn a curved sword of some kind and seemed to be preparing to advance on Spider-Man. Freeing one hand while using the other to shield May from arm Xander streaked forward in another burst of speed but this time almost unconsciously he manifested a sword of ebony energy in his free hand. In the moment it took the man to realize this it was all over as his head was severed from his body the latter of which took a few moments to figure this out before dropping to the ground.

It was only then, when all threats to the innocents and the causes of his fury were eliminated, that Xander finally came back to himself. He looked down at the life he had just ended and for some reason he could not find it within himself to feel the slightest bit of remorse or guilt at what he had done. They had threatened the life of a three day old child and a man who had dedicated his life to the protection of others and as far as he was concerned that made them no better than vamps and deserving of the same fate as a vamp. With the threat over however he had to deal with more immediate problems such as the overuse of Kung Lung's power without the active presence of the armor to lessen its impact on the progress of the Dragon King's essence. Reaching into his pocket he withdrew a needle full of the prepared counter serum he always carried with him and inserted it into the vein that would carry the diluted dragon poison the fastest through his body. The pain was not quite as intense as it had been when he had gone to Doctor Strange's home Halloween night but it was still enough to cause him to drop to one knee. Focusing his will into a weapon he used it to combat the darkness that was the Black Dragon King's essence back into the smallest bit of territory he was willing to concede to it.

The time that passed seemed like hours but in fact only a few minutes were required for the combined effort of serum and mind to do its job. Once that was done however it seemed as though some higher being thought he could use one more obstacle before he could rest for the night as the sounds of many police sirens filled the air. Looking to the apparently unconscious web slinger on the ground and the miraculously still asleep little May he decided he had to get them both out of here before the authorities arrived. Moving over to Peter he picked him up with one arm and slung him over his shoulder before dropping down to the roof of a shorter building and then another until it was finally safe to drop to the ground. Once heights were no longer an issue he began the long trek back to the Parker household where he could hopefully deposit both father and child without much trouble.

_Just another episode in the life of one Xander L. Harris!_ , Xander thought mentally with a sigh as he continued carefully in the right direction, _Sometimes I hate my life!_


	6. When it rains it pours!

Note : I am sorry about the long wait between chapters but I have been busy job hunting among other things. Anyway I have decided that for at least the foreseeable future that Xander will start to hang with the X-Men as I have virtually every issue from Uncanny X-Men 343 to just around December 2004. I'll still try and squeeze in an adventure with the web-head every now and again but for the most part it will be X-Men centered. 

Also I just had a cool idea about what kind of angle I could take concerning pairing Xander up with someone. Recently I have downloaded and watched several of the Anime series centered around Tenchi Muyo such as OVA, Universe and GXP and have gotten hooked on them. Therefore I have considered the idea of having two or more women featured in the Marvel universe develop feelings for Xander. I will not make it an exact copy of the Ryoko/Ayeka struggle like in Tenchi Muyo but you have to admit that the episode involving the botched love spell and Xander was cool. Now imagine something similar involving some popular super heroines and super villainesses from the Marvel Universe and you can see why I think this might be a good idea. Therefore I would appreciate it if you the readers could give me some good ideas for this scenario.

Lastly I wish to apologize for the inaccurate retelling of events from Uncanny X-Men 342 which make up the latter portion of the chapter after the X-Men and Xander get teleported away by Gladiator. I missed that issue and was unable to find anything more than a summary of what happened in that issue online. If one of you readers can type up an accurate script of what happened in that issue and send it to me I will consider revising this chapter. Until then enjoy the show…

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Across the Street From the Parker Home, One Hour Later 

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"C'mon Spidey! Wake up!" Xander said knelt down next to the web-head with little May in his arms.

It had taken a little longer than he had intended in order to make it back to the Parker home given that he had to dodge the police who came to investigate the fight but eventually he had made it. Now though he was trying to wake Pete up from the drug induced sleep since he doubted it would look good no matter what if he just walked in on MJ and Aunt Anna holding the web slinger and a baby in his arms. Now he could be wrong and the two of them could know all about Peter Parker being Spider-Man but better not to take the chance. Unfortunately if the fussing noises that May was making were any hint she was getting hungry and he doubted very much that she would wait for very much longer. Deciding to go with the tried and true method of dealing with unconscious people who needed to be woken up in a hurry he slapped the man hard across the face. This seemed to have an affect so he did it a second time but when he tried a third time Spidey managed to block the blow before it could connect.

"I'm awake! I'm awake!" Spidey mumbled as he pushed himself into a sitting position.

"Sorry but little May is getting a little cranky and I figured it would be better for you to take her home than me." Xander said as he looked down at the child who looked back up at him with innocent eyes.

This caused the web-head to look at the baby directly and with an unspoken request accompanied by extending both arms Xander passed the child to her father. Watching Peter look down and hold the baby with the utmost care and affection he couldn't help but smile at the scene before him. He was now certain beyond all doubt that May would be safe with the Parkers and that any creep or super villain or merc that tried to take the baby away would wind up with a face full of fist for their troubles. Returning May to Peter and MJ would go far in easing the pain and guilt they felt in the aftermath of Halloween. It would outright nullify their grief at the perceived lost of their firstborn and hopefully take some of the edge off from the death of Pete's cousin Ben Reilly. All in all not a complete success but as far as one Xander Harris was concerned it was close enough to warrant a check mark in the win column of his life. It would certainly lower the risk potential as far as his landlord coming around sniffing for more money and would certainly make his life slightly less stressful as it would only be him taking care of himself. Still he figured that if he could he would swing by the Parker home every now and again to make sure everything was alright and that May was safe. Besides he wanted to be there when Spidey went after Osborn. He had his own bone to pick with that monster and he would not pass up any chance to get some payback for the hell Norman's actions had brought about in his life.

"Well I think I better be running along home web head." , Xander said as he rose to his feet before helping the wall crawler up, "I may not have work to go to tomorrow morning but the past few days have been so stressful I feel like I could sleep for a week."

"Yeah well after than dart enforced nap I just went through I could go without some Zs for a little while." , Spidey said before placing his one free hand on Xander's shoulder, "I don't know how I can ever thank you for this Kevin. If you ever need some help against those Mortal Kombat rejects you know where to find me."

"Likewise if you ever need help against Osborn. I need to have a talk with that jackal about some questionable business decisions he made a few years ago." , Xander said before he turned around and began to walk away, "If you need to get in touch with me just swing by Doc Strange's place. He and I occasionally do business with each other."

"He the one that gave you the Power duds?" Spidey said while one of his eyes gotten disproportionately bigger implying that one of Pete's eyebrows was raised.

"Yeah. Personally I think we can both safely assume we know what the Doc does every Saturday morning." Xander said in perfect deadpan although if one looked close enough they could see a smile threatening to break through.

They both had a good chuckle at that before both costumed heroes went their separate ways towards their respective homes.

Two Hours Later Approaching Xander 'Kevin Lancaster' Harris' Apartment 

**__**

_Well I think that for the next two days I am going to enjoy the time off Shirley gave me and try and relax._ Xander thought to himself as he strolled calmly down the street towards his apartment building.

He knew that if Ben were still alive and it had been someone else at the Daily Grind who had passed on that he would try to keep everyone's thoughts on happier times. In that way Ben and Pete were a lot alike because they both did their best to put smile on people's faces when it was needed. So in that spirit he would try to remember more of the good times rather than the bad because there was no time that he was going to wind up brooding in the dark like a certain corpse he knew. As he approached the street his apartment was on he saw with some concern two fire trucks speed by and while given the damage Onslaught caused it was no uncommon for the N.Y.F.D to be busy he was still concerned. Picking up the pace a bit he hoped that things weren't too serious but if there was a major fire he figured he could do one more good deed before turning in for the night. Turning the corner he came to a complete stop as he looked at the sight before him in complete horror and shock. When he had seen the fire trucks go by he had assumed that the fire had been a couple more blocks down the street past his own building but he could not have been more wrong. For there ablaze with red and gold was his apartment building with the structure looking to be well on its way to coming down despite the fire department's efforts to put out the fire.

This one sight hurt him more than anyone could know for not only was it the place where he had hung his hat since coming to New York City but also where he stored everything he owned. From the used furniture he had bought at a thrift store to the few valuables he had managed to stuff in his bag when he had left Sunnydale. It was as if someone had ripped out his heart as he knew that all he had now were the clothes on his back as the rest was most assuredly ashes by now. His mind spun as he tried to understand how this could have happened and who was to blame before he realized that he would need more info before he could reach any conclusions. Jogging up he could see that most of the tenants were outside the building behind the barricades looking up at their homes with looks of sadness and shock similar to what had been on his face moments ago.

"Hey! What the heck happened?" he asked as he came to a stop about five feet from the group.

"Like you don't know!" said Max, a loan shark who had lived across the hall from him and Trixie.

"What do you mean? I just got here so of course I don't know." Xander said as he began feeling a distinctly unpleasant feeling of déjà vu as the angry eyes of the crowd turned on him.

"Liar! The fire started in your apartment!" , Maxine yelled as the prostitute pointed an accusing finger at him, "We all saw the flames come from the direction of your room!"

In that instant Xander realized what had happened and it only made him all the more angry at the followers of Kung Lung for he was certain that they had been the ones to set the building on fire. Whether it was because their people had learned of the failed attempt to abduct him earlier or simply did this to cover their tracks was unknown. All that was known was that they had made him the prime suspect in this fire which would likely be seen as an arson case. They had ruined his life and just like the mob back in Sunnydale it was looking like it was time for him to make a run for it before they got any ideas about how best to use the debris from the building. Once again the bloody paranormal had ruined his life and he was once again forced to curse the black dragon within him for turning a fresh start into a pile of ash. Turning around he slowly began to walk away knowing that if he broke into a run right away he would only encourage them to act on their anger. By walking away in this manner he hoped he wouldn't look any more guilty in their eyes than before and that they would be willing to wait and see if the law would deliver them justice before they took the law into their own hands. Unfortunately it seemed that some higher or lower being wasn't going to just sit by and let a promising chance for violence just slip away and therefore gave one of his former neighbors the courage to throw the first stone at him. Unprepared for the assault and not having seen it coming at all the brick hit him right in the shoulder causing him to stagger a few steps. This was apparently all the rest of the former tenants of the building needed to join in and before he knew it debris of every kind became airborne and on a trajectory for his head.

_Alright I tried to walk away peacefully and innocently but now it's time to run like hell before they succeed in killing **ME**!_ Xander thought to himself as he broke out into a sprint trying to put as much distance between him and his attackers as possible.

His mind was stunned and more or less acting on instinct as nothing else registered aside from the fact that once again he was homeless and every last one of his material possessions were now gone. Even the picture of the gang back home and the High School Year book he had brought with him from California were no more. That meant that now all he had to remember the gang by were his memories and who knew how long they would last before they faded away with time. After all while the important memories like meeting Willow for the first time, finding out about the Hellmouth and Vampires and sleeping with Faith stayed with you everything else became a blur. Memories were also attached to physical things which was why people had keepsakes to help jog their memory concerning important events. All in all he dreaded the day when he could no longer remember Buffy's laugh or Willow's resolve face. He knew that the people he cared about back home were not gone but as far as he was concerned he didn't think he would see them again any time soon. Who knew how long those F.O.H bigots would be hanging around Sunnydale? They might even have one of their people stay in Sunnydale permanently just in case he came back someday in the future. That meant that unless by some miracle he was cured of Kung Lung or every person who knew of his condition aside from his friends forgot what they had discovered after graduation he could not risk going home. For their own safety and well being he had no choice but to stay away and let them live their lives in relative peace. He knew that they would not be able to be completely safe so long as they lived on the Hellmouth but at least he could keep racial hatred and lynch mobs off their plate of problems.

As he rounded the corner he decided to head to the one place where he could stand a reasonable chance of being safe without endangering the person he was imposing on.

The Home of the Sorcerer Supreme, Two Hours Before Dawn 

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"So that's basically it Doc. I am not homeless, will most likely be suspected of arson before the week is out and have nothing more than the clothes on my back." , Xander said as he sipped on a cup of tea Wong had given him soon after arrival, "When you add to that the odds that Shirley will be able to keep me on at the Daily Grind in spite of the heat I'll be bringing her way and I think it is safe to say I'm royally screwed."

"While I admit it is something of a dilemma Xander I do not believe it is nearly as hopeless as you perceive it to be." Stephen Strange said from his comfortable position sitting Indian style three feet above the floor.

"Then tell me oh wise one where exactly is the silver lining here because I sure as hell don't see it." Xander said somewhat sarcastically as he all but dared the Doc to come up with something positive amidst all of his negative thoughts.

"If what you suspect is true and these followers of Kung Lung were responsible for the fire that consumed your home then it is unlikely that they took the time to leave solid evidence to implicate you in the act." , Stephen stated carefully thinking through the scenario, "Only the circumstantial evidence and testimony from your questionable neighbors will place the guilt on your. No rational police officer would arrest you for that. As for a home you are free to stay with Wong and I until you find another suitable apartment. Your possessions while somewhat precious can always be replaced despite the rarity of some."

"Yeah and I guess that Shirley is too good a person to fire me just because some people make some noise." Xander said as he took solace in the fact that the owner of the Daily Grind was no the sort to be swayed by the opinions of strangers or to betray good people.

"So you see, while your situation is troublesome it is by no means as dire as you made it out to be." Stephen said with a certain wisdom in his voice.

"Yeah and I guess with winter setting in she wouldn't do a rotten thing like fire me. Maybe after Christmas but certainly not before." Xander said with some levity indicating that he wasn't serious when he stated that Shirley might fire him.

"In any case you have no doubt had a rough night so I suggest you get some sleep." Stephen said as he lowered his legs to the ground.

"Yeah. Some sleep sounds pretty good right about now." Xander said before letting out a big yawn.

He didn't show it but he was definitely starting to feel the drain of the last couple of days and running away from his former neighbors at top speed only made it worse. Sleep would be a nice reprieve as well from the troubles that had been dumped on his lap tonight but he knew as soon as he woke up that they would be right there waiting for him. It was a problem that he was all to familiar with and ran in the family apparently with the only difference between him and his parents being that he didn't rely on booze to solve his problems. No. He knew that if you wanted to solve a problem it would take hard work and nothing but to fix things. Unfortunately he was not entirely sure how he was going to avoid taking the rap for the arson of his apartment building without divulging exactly where he had been this past evening. That explanation would only make him look like either a lunatic or even more guilty since fighting ninjas alongside Spider-Man wasn't exactly something that happened to just anyone. If they by some chance believed his outrageous story they would only examine his history even further and given that 'Kevin Lancaster' didn't exist beyond the bogus information he gave Shirley and his landlord he would be very much screwed. After all he had not possessed the resources or the know how to generate a complete and fool proof false identity for himself and so had tried to look for a place to live and a job that didn't require serious background checks.

In any case though things would definitely be interesting over the next couple of weeks. He just hoped they didn't wind up getting interesting like they usually did back home in Sunnydale because that was the kind of excitement he could do without.

**_December 5th, Daily Grind, Evening_**

"Kevin? Can I talk to you for a moment?" Shirley asked as soon as Xander finished with his current customer.

_I guess it's finally time._ Xander said with a sigh as he handed off the register to another employee.

He had known it was coming and had expected it for the past month but that didn't make it any more difficult to handle what would come next. It had happened just as he had predicted from the accusations to the gossiping to the mystery of his 'past' and it had only gotten worse as the weeks past. It hadn't taken the police long to learn that 'Kevin Lancaster' did not exist and once that had been established they watched him like a hawk. Detectives Briscoe and Green came in almost every other day and gave him the hairy eyeball like only a pair of determined cops could. Oh they had stated after the first week and a half that he was no longer considered an official suspect in the arson case since no one could actually place him in his room at the time the fire started. Still the detectives in charge must still think he's the most likely suspect since they still seemed interested in him. Still they were always civil when they spoke with him and looked like regular ordinary customers when they came in and ate so they didn't bother him much. Unfortunately they were not the only problems he had to face and it was beginning to affect business at the Daily Grind.

There were also some of his former neighbors who came in and a few of their friends who came in to harass him discreetly. They hadn't done anything to get themselves thrown out of the place or provoke Shirley into calling the police on them but given their various questionable occupations they were scaring off the honest customers. With customers that looked like gang members, prostitutes and thieves it was understandable that all but the most dedicated and determined customers would go elsewhere to eat. Add to that the fact that according to some people the police still hadn't determined how the fire was started in the first place and you had anti-mutant gossip picking up speed big time. All in all he could understand that Shirley was feeling majorly pressured lately to lay him off and if she was calling him aside to fire him he wouldn't hold it against her. The Daily Grind was her livelihood and her sole means of providing for her son Devon so she had to set priorities and stick to them no matter what. Besides he wasn't even a long time employee since he had only been working at the diner for a few months so there weren't really that many friendship ties to be cut. So the best thing he could do right now would be to make this as easy a transition as possible so that things end on a positive note.

Stepping into the kitchen area with Shirley Xander just waited for her to say whatever it was she had to say rather than make some possibly rash assumptions.

"I'm sure you know that we haven't exactly been doing so good business wise lately." , Shirley said putting some serious effort into looking him in the eye, "In fact the last time business was this bad was right after the whole Onslaught mess but that was more due to the transit and repair problems than anything being wrong here. Unfortunately unlike that two weeks this problem looks like it'll take at least a few months before it all blows over."

"The Daily Grind however can't last that long given what we're making now per week. Combining business expenses and salaries we're looking at a slow downward spiral if we keep fighting the good fight against those slime-balls." , Shirley said with a growl making it clear she didn't like giving up like this, "Look, there ain't no easy way to say this, you're fired. However I'm not about to send you out on your white butt without something to tide you over until you get a job somewhere else."

Reaching into the big pocket on her apron she withdrew and envelope that made no secret of what it was holding given the rectangular shape. She put it directly into his hands as she obviously didn't want to take the possibility that he might refuse it given his usually modest nature. Just like Buff and the others said back home he had a White Knight complex a mile wide and as part of that mindset taking money that you didn't earn was a major no-no. It was different if it was a birthday or Christmas present as that came from friends and family who you could easily pay back at some point in the future. That was not the case with this though as he and Shirley were more colleagues than friends and at least as far as he was concerned neither he nor Shirley expected Christmas presents from one another or any other kind of present. With this in mind he was tempted to hand it back to here but the look in her eyes made it clear that she would take any attempt to give the money back as an insult.

"Thanks Shirley. I'm sorry it had to turn out this way." Xander said as he put the envelope into his pocket and took off his apron.

"Me too Kevin, me too." Shirley said with actual regret in her voice.

Rockerfellar Center, Evening 

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_ Well it's nice to see that some people are having a good time_. Xander thought to himself as he leaned on the railing overlooking the skating rink down below.

He had pretty much been just walking around ever since he had walked out of the Daily Grind after turning in what he had to before leaving. He didn't quite feel like going back to Doc Strange's place at the moment as he was sure he would get bored and wind up driving Stephen mad inside of three hours. No he was going to just let both his mind and his feet wander where they would and see what happened. The money he had gotten from Shirley was enough to see him through for about three months before he was completely broke. Hopefully by then he would be able to find another suitable job that wouldn't ask him to work without glasses and wouldn't look for any serious background information about him. It hadn't been easy the first time around finding a job and he had thought it a real stroke of good luck that he had found the Daily Grind but he wasn't too worried though. After surviving numerous near-end-of-the-world situations back on the Hellmouth finding a job was no harder than studying for a test. It took time and dedication but if you stayed at it long enough it paid off big time and given that he'd go hungry if he failed he had more than sufficient incentive to do his best. For tonight though he would just go where the fates sent him and make things up as he went along while hoping for the best all the while.

He was just about to go somewhere else when he spotted a familiar looking duo walking arm in arm towards the right exit of the Center. Deciding that it might be interesting to talk with the ape like man one more time he began to walk at a brisk pace in the pair's general direction. It wasn't easy though with all of the people who had come to skate or just to see the sights but he did make progress eventually by going to the edge of the crow and just heading in the direction he figured they would be heading towards. He almost lost them a couple of times but as soon as he got within a few feet of them he reached out and grabbed the shoulder of one Hank McCoy.

"Hey Hank! Long time no see!" Xander said as Dr. McCoy turned to see who it was who had taken a hold of his shoulder.

"Kevin! What a surprise to see you again." Hank said extending his hand for a shake.

"Yeah. I didn't think we'd run into each other after last time." , Xander said taking the offered hand, "So what brings you to Rockerfellar Center?"

"The titillating Trish Tilby and I were enjoying the splendiferous weather with a few of our compatriots this fine evening." , Hank replied with a truly happy smile, "We were just on our way for a small repast a local restaurant. Would you like to join us?"

"I wouldn't want to be a third wheel or anything." Xander said with a mix of surprise at the invitation and a little hesitation about going with someone he had only met once before.

"Nonsense. Besides I had already made a sizeable reservation and it would be a shame to let all those empty chairs go to waste." Hank said as if he actually meant every word he was saying.

"Yes. Besides, after you talked with Hank last time he was in a philosophical mood for the entire afternoon, so I'd be interested in seeing just what type of person could inspire that in this big lug." Trish said but Xander got the impression that she was saying it more out of politeness than actual interest.

"It's a deal." Xander said with a friendly smile and an at ease posture.

For the next hour or so they sat in a restaurant and talked about whatever came up while eating what they ordered. He tried to keep his order small so as not to make it look like he was mooching off of them or imposing on their hospitality. Hank seemed to go to great lengths to make it look like he was really enjoying the Zeppo's company while Trish stayed in her polite position for the most part. McCoy tried to get her more involved but he guessed that she had been looking forward to some alone time with her boyfriend. Still he was in the middle of it now and trying to get out would only make things worse for all of them so here he stayed. He did his best to try and cheer Trish up and make things at least somewhat bearable despite the lack of quality snuggle time with her big teddy bear boyfriend. By the time the hour was up she seemed willing to step outside of basic politeness and step into actual friendship but before any decision could be made a bright flash of light lit up the sky above them causing everyone to look up.

What he saw amazed him a bit for it appeared like two comets were fighting it out mid-air with the purple one giving the orange one a serious pounding. He tried to enhance his vision with the black Dragon King's power but stopped himself as he figured that his glowing eyes would be too easy to see despite his dark glasses. However while he and a lot of the other pedestrians who were witnessing the sight seemed almost singularly surprised at what they were looking at Hank and Trish had a different look on their faces. It almost looked as though they knew what was going on and what it was that was using the skies above Manhattan as a battleground. It also looked as though they believed this fight to be more important than a fancy light show. This intrigued him because while he might know next to nothing about who they were and what they did for a living it seemed out of the ordinary that they should be connected to something like this.

Hank seemed to take notice of his stare and immediately composed his facial features into something more unreadable.

"Well Kevin it looks as though we will have to cut this enjoyable evening short as I am sure Ms. Tilby will want to investigate the spectacular light show we are witnessing." Hank stated sounding perfectly composed and casual.

"Ah .. Yeah! Yeah, this could be big news!" Trish said as she pried her eyes off of what was happening above them.

"That being the case I will do my duty as milady's escort for this evening and ensure her safety for the remainder of the night." , McCoy said with all the gallantry of an knight, "We shall have to do this again some time Kevin. I had a terrific night and am quite looking forward to another discussion like we had at the park after Halloween."

"Sure thing Hank. Miss Tilby I'll look for the story on TV." Xander said deciding to be understanding even though he knew something was up.

After all this was way too much like when Buffy and the gang had to ditch some friends or classmates who weren't cognizant of what really went on in Sunnydale. Obviously Hank McCoy and Ms. Tilby were involved in something pretty big and didn't want to involve him just in case things got complicated. Now it was true that he could make a fuss and try and force them to tell him but it might prove more interesting to just let them think they had won and then follow them. Waving goodbye he walked in the opposite direction that the two 'comets' were heading but as soon as he was two blocks away he looped around and began to head in their direction.

_ Looks like business is going to pick up!_ , Xander thought with an amused mindset as the old adrenaline pumping, _Hard to believe I'm almost looking forward getting involved in something dangerous!_

**_Construction Site, Thirty Minutes Later_**

_Well at least I won't get bored!_ Xander thought sarcastically as he approached the building that had once been complete was now completely in pieces.

He had managed to catch sight of Hank after a few blocks and after that did his best to keep within two blocks of him and his girlfriend at all times. He didn't really need to follow them as the two combatants in the sky weren't exactly hard to miss but he didn't want to miss a thing so he kept an eye on the sky and an eye on his 'friends'. It had all come to a head when the two comets dive-bombed into what was likely a recently constructed apartment building and reduced it to little more than rubble. He was close behind Hank so when he entered the remains of the building he circled around to find his own way in as he was sure they would notice him if he went in the same way. It took a few minutes but eventually he managed to squeeze his way into the interior of the building and observe the scene before him. It was odd to say the least as he spotted a blue furred ape like being, a mutant he thought, wearing the same clothes that Hank had worn. Trish was there as well but was unchanged from how she had appeared to him beforehand. They were all gathered around a young blonde man who was apparently the orange 'comet' he had seen flying about the sky before. There were two other men whom he did not know but they did not seem to be evil or even hostile. They in fact seemed to be friends with the blonde guy as well as with Hank and Trish. Desiring to learn more he stood still in his place and listened to the conversation about to take place.

"Bravo!" , Hank declared as blondie landed on the ground, "You **channeled** all the kinetic energy from his **killer** **blow** – and **directed** it to your **force** **field**. How long has **that** particular trick been in your **repertoire**, Mr. G?"

"About **six** **seconds** now, Dr. McCoy." , Mr. G replied with a distinct Kentucky accent, "Were **y'all** just **watchin'**?"

"We've **actually** all arrived only **this** **moment**." Hank replied as he made his way through the rubble.

"My **fav'rite** **part** was when y'waited for de exact **instant** he **doubted** **himself** .. before y'gave him de **coupe** **de** **grace**." One of the unknowns said with a cajun accent.

"**Thanks, **sir." Said Kentucky boy.

"Call me **Remy**, Sam." , Remy said before mumbling under his breath, "Or **Joseph** at the very least."

"**Sam**, any idea what **this** was all about?" , the big black guy asked, "The X-Men have battled Gladiator and his companions in the past … but it seems out of character for him to attack without **provocation**."

_THE X-MEN!_ , Xander almost yelled out loud but managed to keep mental, _This is most definitely better than just walking around town!_

The X-Men were one of the most famous mutant teams out there today and while the media hadn't decided whether they were heroes or villains it was agreed that they were dangerous. They had been involved in almost every major mutant incident for the past twenty years and had worked with some of the official super hero teams in defending this world against numerous global threats. He had actually considered seeking them out when he had been 'exposed' as a mutant but quickly junked the idea given that he had no idea where to begin looking for them. Aside from going on a rampage to attract their attention there were no real official ways of contacting them so he had accepted the fact that he was on his own. Now though he just might be able to meet them and if all went well his housing and perhaps even his employment problems might finally be solved. Still he should probably wait until the current bit of excitement finished before stepping forward and making his proposal. He had no real idea what kind of hair trigger these guys were on and he had no wish to become a greasy spot on the ground so silent he remained.

"Not a **clue**, but – Ah **reckon** ya' can ask him **yourself**!" Sam replying to the big guy's question before he was interrupted by an explosion of debris which revealed the other warrior involved in the skirmish called Gladiator.

Xander had to almost dodge the debris as it went in every direction as well as destabilizing several parts of the demolished building that were still somewhat in one piece. He almost got hit by a portion of an I-beam but then something happened that he had not forseen. The piece of metal stopped in mid-air as if willed to do so by some unseen entity before it was politely dropped to the ground a few moments later. Listening to the others they seemed likewise surprised but the unexpected halting of the bits and pieces of the building but an answer was quick to come. From the left side of the building came two figures who like Sam seemed to possess the mutant ability to fly but couldn't be more different from one another. One was a platinum blonde male with a fairly impressive build who had his arm extended towards them indicating that he was the one who had halted the flying debris in mid-air. The other was a woman of slim but similarly muscular build that had a distinctive white portion of hair hanging just barely in front of her eyes. Xander was starting to wonder what would happen next with all the unusual people that seemed to be popping out of the woodwork every few seconds.

"What **started** this!" the woman asked with a distinctly southern twang as she looked down at the muscular being who now knelt before her.

"I **humbly** **confess** I was **fully** responsible." , replied the purple skinned man with the black mohawk, "I needed to **contact** you because as a **preator** of the **imperial** **guard**, I **request** a **boon**. The **Shi'ar** **Empire** is in the **grave** **danger** and yet I have been forbidden by the **Majestrix** to interfere."

"This **entire** **confrontation** – was merely to get our **attention**?" , the Southern Belle asked incredulously, "**If** ya is tellin' the **truth**, Gladiator – an' I'm not quite **convinced** o' that – we would be **happy** t'help Lilandra. **What** do we have to do?"

"As much as it **shames** me to say this … you have to go in my **stead**." Gladiator replied with sincere regret at not being able to go to face this threat himself.

"Ah **reckon** we could do that. We'll need to **contact** the others and – " Southern Belle began to say before she was interrupted by Gladiator.

"**Time** is of the **essence**." Gladiator said as he withdrew five blue glowing spheres from his belt before releasing them into the air.

"What **are** these things … **probes**?" Southern Belle asked which was kinda the same question that Xander was asking as he looked at the scene before him.

Unfortunately much like in Sunnyhell there was one rule that he should have known better than to disregard and that was to never fail to keep tabs on your surroundings. If he had he would have noticed one of the glowing blue spheres heading straight for him in an almost lazy flight pattern. As it was it was only when it was staring him in the face that he realized that something was about to happen but what he could not say. Fortunately though Hank came through a few moments later after the one called Gladiator replied to Southern Belle's question by calling the spheres 'transit spheres'.

"'**Transit spheres'**? As in some sort of **teleportation** – " was all Hank was able to get out before the world disappeared around them all.

Where once there was a ruined building there was nothing but a glittering blue haze as reality went bye-bye for Xander. It was as this was happening that Xander remembered the second rule that those from Sunnyhell followed once they discovered what truly went on at night.

'When more than two beings of power converge to a single spot be ready for some serious shit to hit the fan.'

**_Unknown Location in Space, Unidentified Ship_**

_ O-kay! Maybe this wasn't such a good idea!_ Xander thought to himself as he was forced to grab a hold of whatever he could to remain standing amidst this chaos he now found himself in.

He hadn't known what he was to expect when that blue sphere had been activated but this most certainly had not been it. It didn't take much for him to deduce that he was on some kind of spaceship given the star field that hung outside the front windshield but the futuristic controls were a nice touch. Obviously he had just been dropped into something much bigger than pounding on some Friends of Humanity members or playing pound the bad guy with some clichéd super-villain. Still if the X-Men lived up to their reputation he was in pretty good hands but oh wouldn't they be surprised when finally noticed their surplus passenger. Now however they were all a little more concerned with the ship as the random shifts in direction and significant acceleration seemed to signify 'out of control ship'.

"Beast! Get to the controls and see if you can stop this rockin' roller coaster before someone loses their lunch!" Southern Belle ordered

"Will do milady!" replied the blue furred former Avenger as he used any and every handhold he could find to work his way up to the controls at the front of the ship.

The rest of the pseudo-crew didn't say much as they were otherwise occupied trying to keep from being propelled backwards to the rear wall of the control room. Fortunately he was at the very back of the pack so they had yet to take notice of him which left him to his own devices as to what to do. He would help if he could but this tech was as foreign to him as proper English was to Buffy which was roughly equal to the diameter of the entire galaxy. While it was perfectly possible to experiment by pressing a few buttons and flipping a few switches to see what happened he knew better than to fiddle with something he didn't understand.

"What do you have for me Hank?" Southern Belle asked after McCoy had a few minutes to examine and experiment with the controls.

"Not a lot. But if my calculations are correct, this button should – "Hank said as he pressed what looked like a pink triangular button.

This unfortunately only resulted in everyone not having a firm grip on something bolted down to be thrown hard against the rear wall of the room. This unfortunately meant that Xander's backside was rather violently introduced to the back wall and had the pain further compounded when another body slammed into him. After he had a moment to collect himself and force aside the pain he found that it had been Southern Belle who had slammed into him. This sorta made up for the pain he was feeling but he decided to keep the witty comments he had on the tip of his tongue to himself. After all if the looks of surprise he was getting from the X-Men as a whole and the two glares he was getting from blondie and Cajun guy he had to choose his next words carefully. After all vessel for the Black Dragon King Kung Lung or not he would only receive abundant amounts of pain if he wound up pissing them off.

He put on his best friendly smile and said "Hiya guys! So do they show any movies on this flight? If not I suppose some of those tasty salted airline peanuts would be alright."

"Kevin! What are you doing here?" Hank asked only turning his head slightly at the sound of the Zeppo's voice.

"Well gee Hank! You and Trish seemed to be in such a rush to get to ground zero of Kentucky and Muscle Man's fight I just couldn't help tagging along." , Xander said as he gently helped Southern Belle off of him without touching her in spots that would seem **improper** to the others, "Besides you used the same trick me and my friends used back home when we wanted to ditch those not in the know about what really went on after sunset. How could I not follow?"

"How indeed?" Hank said with some amusement in his voice as he continued to tap away at the controls.

Eventually things seemed to settle down a bit as they were no longer chaotically moving about space but instead seemed to progressing in an unknown direction in a steady controlled pace. Where that was no one seemed to know but if he had overheard that Gladiator guy they were off to someplace called the Shi'ar Empire to help stave off some kind of invasion. It was a loosely known fact among the people of the planet Earth that they were not as alone as they used to be with more than a few alien invasions being repelled by the world's hero population. Still even with the rep of doing the impossible he couldn't see how these mutants would be able to fight off an entire invasion by themselves. Hopefully they would bump into some Shi'ar soldiers along the way who would be willing to provide some back-up for them otherwise it would take some serious trouble after they arrived.

"Beast! Can you stop this ship?" Big Black Guy asked from his position to the right of Xander.

"I will give it my best effort Bishop." Hank 'Beast' McCoy replied as he continued to use his nimble fingers to operate the console in front of him.

However it became clear over the next few minutes and after a few choice words spoken under his breath that Beast was becoming increasingly irritated with his lack of progress. Understandable as far as Xander was concerned. From the way they had spoken to Gladiator it was a safe bet that the X-Men had encounters with the Shi'ar Empire before and had a decent understanding of their technology. That being the case Hank's growing lack of progress with the ship's navigational controls only served to worry the Zeppo even more along with the rest of the craft's occupants. After all if the profile he had read a few years back in a magazine that was doing a story on the Avengers was accurate then Hank 'The Beast' McCoy was supposed to be a genius. A split second later though Xander remembered that Hank was a genius at bio-chemistry rather than engineering so they might have a problem here.

"I regret to inform you my caring comrades that it appears Gladiator pre-programmed this vessel to take us to a predetermined location upon our arrival." , Hank said with some frustration, "Thus despite my best efforts I am unable to override the instructions he gave the ship. Strap yourselves in kiddies because there's not much else we can do at the moment."

"Merde." Commented the Cajun as he slumped down in one of the chairs that still remained upright in the room.

There were similar statements made by just about everyone else in the room except blondie and the man Hank called Bishop but they were able to convey their feelings just as well with their eyes. Neither of them were very happy with the situation but seemed to have accepted the facts of the moment as well as the reality that there wasn't anything they could do to change things. He supposed that there was no logical reason to let himself get worked up over a situation he had little to no control over but if he was the logical sort he would have left Sunnydale the moment he learned about vampires. No he was of the more emotional sort that thought with his heart and did his best to look out for his friends before thinking about himself. Therefore he felt perfectly normal letting out a sigh he usually reserved when he yet again got himself into a situation that promised much in the way of danger and 'oh shit!' remarks. Truth be told he had pretty much gotten used to things turning out like this as he had already come to accept that there was a predictable pattern to his life. It basically consisted of him discovering something that changed his world view, getting used to it and then having another discovery dropped onto his lap without much in the way of warning.

_On the plus side at least whatever sort of deity is enjoying the chaos of my life it also seems interested in keeping me alive too!_ Xander thought to himself as he sat down on a chair positioned near the back of the room.

It was at that point that the ship was suddenly rocked by some kind of impact on the outer hull which almost knocked him to the ground again like everyone else. Fortunately his own growing cynicism and paranoia had anticipated a sudden turn for the worse so he was able to see it coming. Looking in Hank's direction to see what was going on he was quickly reminded of C3PO's estimate at a ship successfully managing to navigate an asteroid field. Hopefully they would have better luck as they didn't have a couple of Star Destroyers and TIE fighters in pursuit otherwise he had a sneaking suspicion they were going to need a lot more than the Force to see them through this.

"Beast any chance of getting the ship's defensive systems online? We could use their particle cannons to clear a path through the asteroid field." Bishop said as he sat down at what Xander presumed was the tactical console.

"I am afraid there doesn't seem to be any defensive systems on this particular craft." Hank said in a voice that implied he did not like having to be the bearer of bad news.

"What? What type of imperial spacecraft doesn't have weapons?" Xander exclaimed as though he could not believe what he had just heard.

"Apparently this type mon ami." The man called Remy said equally unimpressed with the lack of foresight on the part of Gladiator.

"I believe I may be of some assistance." , Blondie said as he extended both hands in front of him before moving them as though he was pushing something out of his way, "These asteroids have some metal in their composition which hopefully I can use to move the majority of them out of our path."

As the Zeppo looked at the misshapen collection of asteroids in front of them and watched in amazement as they seemed to obey Blondie's commands. This struck him as odd as he tried to guess what sort of mutant gift this guy had that could allow him to do this. He had said that it was the metal spread out throughout the asteroids that would allow him to move them aside. That implied that he had some sort of control over metal but that could mean anything from being able to transform himself into living metal to .. to possessing the powers of magnetism! Jerking his head back in Blondie's location he tried to picture the guy dressed in red and purple with a cape and a bucket on his head. It didn't take much comparison between the images he had seen on TV and in magazines with the man who stood before him now for him to put a name to the face. Blondie could be no other man but Erik Magnus Lensher aka Magneto the Master of Magnetism and the number one poster boy for mutant supremacists world wise. However unless ol' Mags had discovered the fountain of youth and pulled an Angel with the whole redemption thing there was no sane reason Xander could come up with to explain his presence here. The number of times the X-Men had shown up to stop the various plans Magneto had come up with to elevate 'homo-superior' to the ruling class were many. What they were doing hanging with him right now was anyone's guess but given that he seemed free to go where he pleased and no one seemed suspicious of Magneto he decided to do likewise. After all it wasn't like he could do anything against such a powerful mutant especially since he could quite easily kill them all by destroying the ship with his powers.

It took them about half an hour to clear the asteroid field at the speed the spacecraft was going and during that time he had gotten to know his traveling companions. He already knew Hank McCoy aka the Beast who was a former Avenger and the resident bouncing blue genius of the X-Men team. The Cajun was Remy LeBeau aka Gambit who was a former master thief and had the ability to charge certain objects with kinetic energy that was explosively released on contact with the target. The Southern Belle was named Rogue who aside from being super strong, invulnerable and able to fly had the mutant ability to absorb the memories and powers of anyone she touched. Bishop was apparently a cop from, get this, the future who had the ability to absorb any energy sent his way and give it back three fold at his attacker. Blondie was called Joseph by Hank even though Xander was certain that it was Magneto he was looking at and did indeed have the same sort of powers as the Master of Magnetism. Unfortunately though this of course led them to want to know who he was and that left him with the dilemma of trying to decide just how much to tell them.

After all no matter how good their reputation was there was no telling how they would react to telling them the undiluted truth. For all he knew they'd toss him out the nearest airlock or put him in whatever this ship had in the way of a brig. Maybe they really were terrorists like everyone in the news business claimed they were but given that other people in officialdom thought vampires were gangs on PCP the media's accuracy was suspect to say the least. Still he doubted he would earn many points with them if he stonewalled them or tried to feed them some sort of bullshit story that your average American would buy. So he decided to go with the honesty was the best policy way of looking at things and take his chances since he was fairly sure that if things went to hell then chances are things would be over quick.

"Well if we're all being so honest then I guess I should get the big lie out of the way first." , Xander said as he took off his sunglasses and put them in his pocket, "My name's not Kevin Lancaster. It's Xander Harris."

To their credit they didn't seem too surprised at the sight of his golden dragon eyes nor at his use of an alias but given that they were wanted by most federal law enforcement agencies worldwide.

"I got run out of town by a mob and decided Manhattan would be a good place to disappear in so bought a bus ticket and off I went." , Xander said as his audience listened with the utmost attentiveness, "I've been in Manhattan for less than a year but its been pretty interesting anyway."

"Yes I imagine it has been." Hank said with a knowing look in his eyes.

"So what can you do mon ami?" Gambit asked with a speculative look in his direction.

"Well that's where things get a little complicated. Let's just say that if push comes to shove when we get to this Shi'ar Empire you won't have to worry about me." Xander replied with an abundance of confidence.

True he had no idea what he would be up against when they arrived at their destination but he was fairly certain that he would be able to handle it with a little help from these guys. After all he had been a part of a demon fighting team that had managed to stop no less than three apocalyptic events in three years. True he hadn't contributed much given his lack of official skills and powers but he had still made a difference as far as he was considered. After all if it hadn't been for him they would have had to deal with an super demon snake at graduation rather than just your run of the mill demon snake. True it had led to him being labeled a mutant, Willow getting paralyzed and of course being the means for an evil Dragon King being brought back from the grave. Still he thought he was coping fairly well all things considered and this might be an excellent chance to make some long-term connections.

As for the X-Men they seemed to take him at his word although Bishop was giving the hairy eyeball but since he was a former cop it was probably just training kicking in. They'd all probably be looking for a more detailed explanation after everything settled down but that was later and now was now so that was okay. After they cleared the asteroid field the Zeppo tried to figure out how exactly they were going to get to this Empire. After all while this ship was reasonably fast by Earth standards it was clear they would have to travel much faster if they were going to get anywhere anytime soon. His question was soon answered as he spotted something a fair distance away and from the way the stars were shifting outside the ship it looked like they were heading towards it. He couldn't make the details out at first but once they got a fair bit closer he could see that it was a large door shaped metal frame. As they got closer though a lattice work of energy beams began to take form within the frame and within the space of a few seconds the frame was filled with a liquid gold energy field. He had no idea what that energy field represented but it appeared as though Gladiator programmed the ship to take them right into it.

"Um, does anyone know what that is?" Xander asked as the distance decreased between the ship and the framed energy field.

"It is a stargate my dear friend. The Shi'ar Empire maintains a vast network of them throughout their territories." , Hank replied with scientific interest and authority, "Although I must admit it appears as though this particular gate has gone under some rather interesting modifications since last we passed through it."

"Sounds like you guys do this often." Xander said trying to sound equally as casual about something he was seeing and experiencing for the first time.

All of the X-Men let out a little chuckle at that statement which told him that he had made something of a funny with what he just said. Given the lifestyle these guys led it was entirely possible that they had indeed done this a dozen times before and expected to do it another dozen times before they died. Well if they had done this before and come out of it more or less in one piece he guessed he had nothing to worry about either. After all it wasn't like there was some kind of security scanner on the thing that would fry any unauthorized travelers who tried to pass through the gate. Was there?

_Oh well! It isn't like there is anything I can do about it now. , _Xander thought as they seemed to be just seconds away from entering it_, I just hope this doesn't turn out to be like my past questionable exploits otherwise I might as well just throw in the towel right now!_

**_Shi'ar Space, One Micro-Second After the Last Part of the Ship Entered the stargate_**

**__**

**__**

"That's it!" , Xander said with some surprise when the ship they were in appeared on the other side of the Shi'ar stargate, "That's all that there is to it? I was kinda hoping for something more than that."

"Sorry mon frere. If we knew y'was coming along we woulda broken out the fancy special effects." Gambit said with some levity and a thief's smile.

"In any case though now that we're her we should find out where 'here' is." , Rogue said before turning to Hank, "Think ya can figure out where we are Beast?"

"Give me but a spell my southern sister and I will endeavor to find an answer for you." Hank replied as he resumed his mad tapping of buttons and keys on the control panel in front of him.

While they did this Xander began to look around the room and attempt to gain some kind of grasp of the ship's design and where everything was. At the very least he hoped that he would be able to figure out what each station in this bridge controlled and what he might be able to do with it if things got nasty. He wasn't foolish enough to believe that he could do much given that he had no idea what the displays were saying but the least he could do is find the 'fire' button if he could. Whether that would fire a weapon or some kind of probe he wouldn't know until he actually pressed the button but still that was better than doing nothing. Even when he was just the normal guy with the Scoobies he was always able to contribute something to the fight. Whether it was just an extra set of eyes during an all night research session or an extra pair of hands when tackling a group of vamps he was able to something rather than nothing. By the time McCoy started to make some noises of frustration from the front he had pretty much picked out the tactical station and engineering as well. He wasn't one hundred percent sure of course but using a combination of common sense and what he remembered from his military Halloween possession it was an educated guess.

"I'm sorry Rogue but it would appear as though the same program that Gladiator used to bring us here has taken the primary sensor grid offline." Beast stated with a sigh as he took up a more relaxed position in his chair.

"Why? If he wanted us to help the Shi'ar why would he leave us blind like this?" Joseph asked with some confusion.

"I'm sure he had his reasons but it does make things rather difficult for us." replied Bishop with a frown.

"Maybe he did it to keep us from being detected?" Xander stated almost rhetorically.

This unfortunately made him the center of attention as the others seemed to be waiting for him to elaborate on his statement.

"Well I might not know anything about actual spaceships but you'd think that if Gladiator wanted us to get somewhere without being spotted by the enemy he'd do what he could to make us less noticeable." , Xander said as he tried to talk like he knew what he was talking about, "If the sensors on this thing are anything like sonar or radar this enemy we're supposed to fight might hear our bleeps or boops and come to investigate."

Kicking himself mentally for not coming up with something a bit more scientific sounding he decided that his little idea would be enough to get them thinking on their own. Then they might forget about his idea and come up with one of their own instead leaving him free and clear to sneak out of the room. After all while he may say that he wanted to be the big hero and get all the glory he was actually one of those types that worked best from the shadows. The type that stood behind the hero in the limelight and was thought of as nothing more than a supporting character that would likely be killed off eventually. When he had the misfortune of being the center of attention he almost always came off sounding like a bumbling idiot. Hopefully he had sounded a little better than usual otherwise he was probably going to be regulated to gopher duties when they arrived or they would just dump him on these … these … Shi'arians or whatever they were called. Come to think of it he didn't really know what these aliens would look like or even if they had some kind of universal translators on them. For all he knew they were tiny midgety looking frog people flying around on anti-gravity chairs acting all pompous and saying 'frell this' and 'frack that' every few minutes.

"While not the most eloquent nor sophisticated theory I believe that Xander's suggestion has some merit." , Beast stated as he no doubt began to try and confirm it himself, "While it would take an extremely sophisticated sensor array to detect the energy given off by our sensors it is possible."

The others seemed to take the idea little more seriously coming from their resident genius than when it had come from him. Some people might be insulted by this but he was pretty much used to people acting surprised when he actually came up with a good idea. In any case though it meant that until control of the ship was returned to them all they could do was sit back and enjoy the ride.

"Well I don't know about y'all but I'm going to go in back an see what we have to work with." , Rogue said as she made her way to the rear of the cabin, "We're going to arrive somewhere sometime so we'd better get ready."

The others nodded and while Hank remained at the controls they all followed the southern belle back to see what there was to be had. After all the only hint they had as to what type of vessel they were flying in was that it had been provided by a member of an imperial guard. That could mean that it was anything from a royal command ship to a military scout with a compliment of supplies appropriate for each type of vessel. It could mean anything from bionic battle armor to evening wear depending on who the previous owner of this ship was before they came along. What they found was a small armory consisting of several pistols and a few rifles but nothing that looked like heavy military weaponry. More like something that came standard issue with the ship and was meant for universal use like exploring an uncharted world or repelling small time space pirates. There were also what he presumed were uniforms but they looked more like costumes from Mardi Gras as far as color schemes went and those jumpsuits race car drivers wore. The others he left to their own devices but he decided to go with one that looked the least outlandish and showy. The one he chose was a complex design of grays and blacks that looked like they might help him blend into the background at night. From the weapons locker though he chose two pistols similar to what Bishop himself had picked up and put them in holsters underneath his armpits. However for a little more power though he grabbed one of the more powerful looking rifles and slung the strap over his shoulder. After making sure that he had some spare clips or power cells as Bishop called them he decided to see how the others were doing.

_Well! I think this trip just got a whole lot better! _Xander thought to himself as he spotted Rogue coming out of the changing room wearing a skin-tight purple and yellow outfit with some kind of badge on each shoulder with a black pyramid at the center.

He had known she'd be a looker underneath that casual women's suit she had shown up to the destroyed building in but seeing her now in such a revealing outfit took his breath away. She was of a slim athletic build which made sense given the number of battles the X-Men probably took part in every year but he could also see her strength. He could see that she had a power within her that was much greater than one would suspect just by looking at the surface. He had no doubt that when she was happy she was the most caring and compassionate person you ever saw. He also knew that if you pissed her off you had better hop on the fastest mode of transportation at your disposal because otherwise you would be a bloody smear on the floor. From what he had seen of her in pictures she was powerful enough to go toe-to-toe with the Hulk and could fly fast enough to catch up to just about any human aircraft. Imagining her airborne flitting this way and that he couldn't help it when an admiring grin came on his face which unfortunately everyone in the room caught. From Rogue he caught a flirtatious wink before she left the room but from Joseph and Gambit he got the iciest stare he had ever received. It was clear these two were already in a tug of war battle with the lovely lady and did not another rival butting in on their private confrontation. Bishop just looked on neutrally but he did have his right eyebrow raised that may indicate he was somewhat amused at the scene before him.

_ Something tells me it is time I got out of here._ Xander though as he immediately but calmly left the room with two sets of cold eyes following him the entire way.

**_Two Hours Later_**

Yawning with boredom as he checked his two blaster pistols and rifle for what seemed like the tenth time Xander looked about the room to see what the others were doing.

He had been somewhat busy for the first hour as Bishop showed him how to operate the weapons he had selected and he had found himself oddly fascinated by the weapons. Not as fascinated as Buffy would if she were given a new Slayer weapon but he was definitely looking forward to seeing what these babies could do. After the course in alien weapons 101 though it became a waiting game and wait they did for the ship to either arrive at its destination or return control of the vessel to them. He felt uncomfortable talking to most of them given that they didn't really have any kind of common ground to build a conversation on. After all they were a bunch of mutant adventurers who probably had experienced things that would make even a native of Sunnydale gawk in amazement. So he tried to pass the time by examining each of the ship's various displays and figure out what kind of patterns they went through. When that got old he went through every story and article he had ever bothered to read on the X-Men and their exploits. He knew that none of the articles would be one hundred percent the truth given the racial bias against mutants and the usual imperative of news people everywhere to sensationalize everything for ratings and revenue.

Of course when that went down the tubes his eyes fell on the newest source of happy places in the form of the woman named Rogue. She was up front with Beast attempting to coax something out of the computers about where they were going or at least what the tactical situation was between the Shi'ar and whoever was invading. She was definitely easy on the eyes and he almost felt as though he could lose himself just by looking at him. He wasn't contemplating anything romantic since she was a few years older than him and while he wasn't exactly keeping the age range of potential girlfriends close to his own age the looks from Gambit and Joseph kept his eyes from lingering on her for too long. Whoever the lucky devil was that finally managed to get a wedding ring on her finger would be one fortunate fellow indeed. After all she had a fiery personality and a body to die for which as far as he was concerned put her right at the top of the list of top five most attractive mutant women. Not that he knew many but he was fairly certain that if he had to make a list of some kind she would definitely be closer to the top than to the bottom.

_Hmmmm. If all mutant adventurer women are as well proportioned as her I think I know what I want to do with my life!_ Xander thought to himself half joking half serious as his eyes temporarily drifted back to Rogue.

Just then an alien voice came over the intercom saying something Xander didn't understand but it seemed to be something that got everyone else moving about in a flurry. Getting up from his seat in the rear area of the command area he went up to the front and looked out the window to see if the ship had said 'danger, danger!' or 'It's a space station'. He was surprised when it was his latter theory that proved to be accurate as in the distance he could see the remains of what could only be a space station. They seemed to be on the approach of one of the docking ports of the artificial structure but given the fact that the place looked like it had been bombarded recently who knew how stable it was.

"Beast. Tell me that you can still pick up life signs from that station." Rogue said in horror at the number of deaths that the destruction before them implied.

"While I am happy to report that control of the ship's systems have been returned to us I am afraid that I cannot say one way or another if there are survivors." , Beast said letting it be known that he too was finding this sight horrible, "Apparently whatever weapons were used to cause this devastation left a maelstrom of energy in their wake that is making it almost impossible to get accurate readings of the interior of the station."

"Then we will have to go over there and search the station ourselves." Bishop said as he got to his feet and checked his blaster pistols.

"Um .. not to seem cowardly or anything but how do we know that the ones that did this aren't still over there?" Xander asked as he was not entirely eager to meet the sort of people who could do **that** to something the size of a large city.

"We don't but that's what's so fun!" Beast replied with a little more optimism and levity than he was probably feeling at the moment.

"If you don't want to leave the ship you can stay here and guard it." , Joseph said with a certain amount of professionalism, "If the ones who did this are still here they will eventually try to either destroy this ship or take it for themselves."

It was a serious struggle that went on inside of Xander at the choice that was laid out before him. He could either go with them and look for survivors on a crumbling space ship where enemies could be hiding around every corner or stay here and wait for the enemies to come to him. Hmmm, tough choice.

"You guys go ahead and search the station. I'll stay here and make sure we can get the hell out of here if we need to." Xander said as he plopped down on the seat Beast had just vacated.

This seemed to amuse the rest of them as they began to file out of the room but Hank of course had to put his own two cents in on the conversation.

"Do you think we should tell him that they're likely to blow up the ship long before they come after us?" Beast asked in a semi-serious tone while looking at Gambit.

"What? An' spoil his fun at defending the ship single handedly? Nah!" the Cajun replied while attempting to match the same tone as Beast but making his own amusement painfully obvious.

"Hardy har har!" , Xander yelled at their backs as they left the room then muttered to himself, "Wonder if they'll be so funny when they're running into the ship yelling at me to take off?"

**_Three Hours Later, Royal Imperial Cruiser, Command Deck_**

_Well that just about settles it. It is a lot easier to take a blaster pistol apart than it is to put it back together!_ Xander thought to himself as he shoved his right handed pistol back into its holster after an hour of trying to successfully reassemble it.

After the X-Men had disappeared from sight into the interior of the space station he had tried to convince the computer to change the language displayed on its screens from its current language to English but all he got in return was a mess of gibberish. That lasted for about an hour before he got tired of it and decided to see if he could disassemble and then reassemble one of his weapons like he could a Berretta back home. It had been one of the cooler things he had managed to do after Halloween and so he had tried it with just about every firearm he could get his hands on back home. Therefore when the idea had popped into his head to try it with these space guns he had thought it was a good idea. Still he had decided to err on the side of caution and just use one of the pistols rather than the rifle since if there was a battle he would prefer to have something with a bit of kick to it on hand then just one wimpy pistol. Unfortunately after what he had just been through he was never going to toy with unfamiliar technology ever again even if there was an off chance it might save his life.

Looking up at the windshield he almost missed the sight of both Beast and Bishop running across the distance between the dock's exit and the entrance ramp to the ship. Jumping up from his seat he raced down to where he figured they'd be coming in and wondered if they had indeed managed to find a survivor. By the time he had gotten three quarters of the way to the entrance ramp however they were already inside and turning left into the ship's medical bay. Following them in he discovered that they had indeed found a survivor in the form of a purple armor-wearing woman who aside from the spiky hairdo was almost completely human looking. However it also looked like she had been through a war as there were numerous cuts and bruises all over her and cracks in her armor that looked serious. Beast was already at the controls of some kind of pod and a few moments later Bishop laid the woman gently down into the pod once he had divested her of her armor. Xander was about to call him on the improperness of the act but then realized it was probably necessary for the pod to do its work.

"Who is she?" Xander asked as he took a position opposite Bishop who stood on the pod's right side.

"Her name my golden eyed friend is Deathbird, sister to Majestrix Lilandra, and one of the deadliest warriors in the entire Shi'ar Empire." Beast replied as he began to bring the medical pod online and start its diagnostic procedures.

"Okay! So basically you found one of the best warriors in the entire empire beaten half to death in a place that is basically one mass grave." , Xander said summarizing the entire response he had been given before turning to Bishop and asking, "Can we leave now?"

"Not until the others get back and they won't return until our search of the station is completed." Bishop replied as he set the last piece of armor aside.

Sighing at this he noticed that one of Deathbird's hairs was out of place and so moved to put it into a more appropriate spot. Just as he got his head within two inches of her forehead she suddenly came alive and grabbed him by the wrist in a grip that would have left some serious bruising were it not for Kung Lung. Everyone in the room almost had a heart attack at this act and Bishop moved to try and get her to release Xander but she just gave him a look with those eyes of hers that stopped him in his tracks. Then she turned and looked at the Zeppo himself with a look that could almost be described as beseeching.

"She's still alive .. my subordinate .. find her .. finder her I beseech you in the name of the house Neramani!" Deathbird demanded as her arm began to tremble with exertion.

More than a little shocked he just nodded in acquiescence at her demand and watched as she once again settled down into the pod before becoming completely motionless aside from the basics of breathing and a beating heart.

"So … does anyone want to tell me what the hell that was about?" Xander asked as he looked back and forth between the blue furred Beast and the lawman Bishop.

Both X-Men just looked at one another and shrugged as they didn't seem to have any more of answer to what they had just witnessed than he did.

_Looks like it's gonna be one of those days!_ Xander thought as he prepared to do as he was ordered by the sister of the Empress of the Shi'ar Empire.


	7. Problems and more problems

**_Upper Levels of the Shi'ar Space Station, Thirty Minutes Later_**

"Bishop, are you sure this is where Deathbird's subordinate would be?" Xander asked as he made his way through the mess of debris and scattered bodies.

It had taken awhile for him to calm his stomach after he had seen his first dead Shi'ar body but he was fairly certain that he wouldn't wind up tossing his cookies. However that could change at anytime since most of the carnage he had seen consisted of someone's bloody arm or leg sticking out from beneath some rubble. Still he knew that if or rather when he saw a whole body in all its gory detail he was going to have some time keeping his insides settled. He was determined though to find this second in command of the bird lady's one way or another because when she got better she'd likely skin him alive if he turned tail and ran like a coward. Not that he knew anything about her aside from the brief description he had been given when she had been rushed to the med-bay of the ship but even that was enough to tell him she had a short fuse. So here he was trying to track down one person amidst all this debris and seriously bloody corpses with no clue as to what the subordinate of the empress' sister would look like. He sure hoped that the ol' Harris luck wouldn't come into play because his situation was complex enough as it was without lady luck messing things up further.

"Definitely. Beast was able to find some schematics for this sort of space station from the ship's data banks. If someone did want to attack this place and kill everyone inside the secondary docking port would definitely be a primary target of the attackers." , Bishop replied in typical military fashion before asking, "Are you sure you don't want some back up?"

"I'll be alright. Besides Hank needs to stay on the ship to monitor Deathbird's condition and you know how to work all the ship's fancy doo-dads better than I could ever hope to so I'm the logical choice to search this place." , Xander said as he panned over the are in front of him with the light attached to his laser rifle, "Besides it was pretty clear that the bird lady wanted me to be the one to find her second in command so no sense ruffling her feathers any more than we have to by going against her wishes."

"I guess so. Just keep the com-link open and report on anything unusual." , said Bishop with a no nonsense tone, "We still don't have any idea who we're dealing with here and you don't exactly have any experience in this sort of thing."

"Bishop I'm in the middle of an alien galaxy with a bunch of mutant superheroes trying to stop an invasion by unknown aliens capable of turning something the size of a large city into scrap metal with technology I only have a loose understanding of. This **whole** thing is unusual for me!" , Xander replied sarcastically, "Besides I might not have experience with aliens but I have plenty of experience with things that look at me like I look at a box of twinkies. Besides, if something does attack me I doubt you'd be able to get here in time to do anything about it. Still if it'll make you happy I will keep the line open just in case. I'll probably need it to talk to Hank if I find this subordinate anyway since I know jack about fixing injured bird ladies."

"Indeed. The main site of the battle should be only a few more meters ahead of you so keep your eyes peeled." Bishop ordered in a way that was beginning to grate on Xander's nerves.

It wasn't until the Zeppo made it over the hill of debris ahead of him that he realized that he should never doubt Chess dude when he says something. Laid out in front of him was a sea of carnage that almost made him hurl right then and there. An assortment of body parts littered the area like trash in a park and the blood on the ground looked like it had come from sprinklers in the ceiling. Whoever had done this had done so with the intent of leaving a gruesome scene for any rescuers or survivors he was sure of that. There was no efficiency here, no precision hits, just mindless bloodshed and brutality. It did not bode well for Deathbird's subordinate for even if she survived this massacre she would likely be in pretty bad shape. Tracking his light over the scene before him and examining every inch for signs of life he made sure that nothing escaped his notice. It was times like this that the military training he had inherited from the Halloween incident would come in handy. That would be because part of the training he could recall was search and rescue of downed pilots and missing units. True nothing in the training said anything about what to do when on an alien space station but he'd like to think that improvisation was one of his strong suits. It took him almost three quarters of an hour to look over all the piles of twisted metal and lifeless corpses but when he was done he was certain that anyone who was visible to the naked eye was dead. That left him looking at square one again with little else he could do with the tools he had used thus far along with the training he possessed. There was one more option he had yet to use but he shuddered at the idea of using it.

_C'mon! Chances are any bodies that are under there are long since dead and have lost any trace of body heat they had before!_ , Xander thought to himself as he closed his eyes and attempted to calm his nerves, _Just tap into Kung Lung's power a little bit and look for body heat in the shape of a person. If the subordinate is still alive it should be a piece of cake to find her and then all you have to do is get this junk off of her without killing her. Yeah, easy as pie!_

Closing his eyes so he wouldn't be disoriented by the sudden change in his visual spectrum he tapped into the ebony power inside of him and willed his eyes to be able to see the heat given off by other living things. He knew it could be done since he did something similar when tracking that woman who worked for Osborn back on Earth. This would be a piece of cake by comparison since this woman or man depending on what the case might be wouldn't be running away from him or moving at all. So with a deep breath he opened his eyes and a rainbow of colors filled his field of vision. He supposed that along with the body heat he was looking for he was also seeing dissipating heat fading away from places where explosions happened or weapons were fired. They were fairly dull though so a Shi'ar warrior would easily stand out from the crowd of heat signatures he saw before him. True to form his prediction was right as it took him less than a minute to find a humanoid and definitely female heat source beneath the rubble. The woman was fairly deep in but from what Xander could tell the debris on top of her should be easy enough to take off without fear of dropping something on the injured woman's head. Shutting down his heat sensitive eyes he immediately summoned his armor and for a moment was afraid that there might not be air for him to breath. After all given the damage this place had sustained it was not foolish to believe that the life support system might have failed or that a hole on the station had sucked out all the air. His fears were dispelled though when he took his first breath and found that there was indeed air for him to breath.

It had been a concern of him when he had originally gotten prepared to leave the ship but Hank had explained that the suit generated a weak force field around the users body that kept the oxygen it produced from leaking out. It made sense when Bishop informed him that these suits were used by asteroid miners for ore extraction since those big hunks of rock would have very little if any atmosphere of its own. The suit would pump air up through the collars on the suits and the weak force field would make sure that the air would go where it was needed. Apparently though this space station still retained enough air for him to live off of while he had his armor on otherwise he would have to conclude that Dr. Strange had anticipated this and put some spell on this outfit to make air for him. In either case he would still have to move quickly if he was going to save this female Shi'ar warrior before she died from her wounds. Extending the claws from the tips of his fingers and thumbs he dug them into the first piece of metal and then used some of Kung Lungs power to enhance his strength. The claws would allow him to maintain a grip on the metal while the strength would let him lift the debris and toss it aside.

It took him a total of thirty minutes to carefully remove each piece of debris until his target became fully visible but when he saw her he banished his suit to where ever it was kept when he wasn't using it. Whatever this woman had been through he doubted seeing an armored figure with claws and glowing yellow eyes would put her at ease in his presence. In his experience rescuees tended to be calmer around the rescuers when they showed a familiar or friendly face and while he doubted an earthling was familiar to this lady he hoped it would help if only a little. She didn't seem to be conscious from what he could tell but given how deeply she was buried and the unknown amount of time she might have been trapped she was likely quite weak. He decided it would be better if he got some instructions from Hank on how to move her since he was 'knowledge guy' for their team.

"Hank? I found the subordinate. She looks alright since I can't see any serious cracks in her armor or anything but she isn't conscious either." , Xander said after making sure that his com-link was on, "Any ideas on how to move her safely back to the ship? I really don't want to make her condition any worse since if I do Deathbird will likely make my condition terminally worse."

All he got back though was static and to his naturally paranoid and Sunnydale trained mind that meant trouble with a capital T. It meant one of two things had happened since the last communiqué. First it might mean that some metal or energy from the damaged station was interfering with the signals his suit was sending out. If that was the case all he would have to do would be to walk back to where the signal had gotten through and try again. The second possibility was the more likely one that whoever had done this was still around and was jamming his communications in preparation for an ambush. If that was the case then he was going to have a devil of a time getting the female subordinate back to the ship in one piece.

_No sense letting this get to me or I'll just screw it up in the end!_ Xander thought to himself as he shouldered his rifle and lifted the woman up with both arms.

Once he was sure she was secure and wouldn't fall out of his arms he pulled his two pistols from their holsters below his armpits before returning the arms to their support positions. At least this way he would be able to defend the two of them if it came down to a fight even though holding the warrior woman limited the range of firing he could use. He took off back down the path he had used to get here at a brisk enough pace that they would get back to the ship soon but slow enough so that he would not jostle and worsen any wounds the subordinate had. With luck he would be able to escape their jamming field in time to call in some reinforcements.

This went on for about ten minutes before he first sensed that he was no longer alone in these misshapen caverns of debris and junk metal. He couldn't pin it down to a specific sense or anything that let him know something was amiss but he was a strong enough feeling that he could not ignore it. Deciding to risk a quick look around he tried to see if there was anything out of place or any direction he could look in that caused the feeling to intensify. At first he could not see anything other than what he had noticed his first time through here but then he saw what he was looking for. In one of the darker shadows he could see four sea blue electric eyes looking in his direction but he did not let his eyes linger on them so as not to let his viewer know he/she/it had been spotted. Letting his eyes look over the area a little more he did not fail to keep his other less visible senses trained on his watcher's position. He couldn't see anything definite about his stalker's size or shape but if the head was anything to go by then he was fairly large. That only left the question of why the guy hadn't informed his comrades and set up an ambush already. He doubted this guy was all by his lonesome on this station and where there was one there was likely an entire team nearby. He supposed that this person might be getting his measure before radioing it into to the others but if that was the case he couldn't let that signal get sent. Making it look like he was proceeding on his way Xander carefully disengaged the safety on the pistols and began to thumb the power setting to its highest setting. Hopefully that would be enough to pierce whatever shielding or armor his pursuer might be wearing.

_ Wait … wait … wait … NOW!_ Xander thought before spinning on one heel and firing three shots from each blaster pistol at his hidden stalker.

An almost electronic gurgle was heard from the shadow in which he had fired before a figure that looked like he was composed of copper wiring and kinda solid oil like skin fell to the ground. From what he could tell two of his shots had succeeded in hitting the thing in the head while the remaining four shots landed in the upper chest area. He was pretty lucky given his experience with alien weaponry and what little he had to aim for in the first place. Still he couldn't linger because if this guy was due to check in at some sort of appointed time it wouldn't take a genius to figure that they'd send a search party to find out what happened to him. That being the case it would probably be a good thing if he moved elsewhere before they arrived. After giving the dead alien's body one more look he continued on his way back to the ship hoping that he wasn't heading in the direction this guy's friends would be coming in. After all there was no way he wanted to look like Han Solo in the first Star Wars movie and run into a room filled with enemy soldiers. That might have been funny seeing it happen in the movie but he doubted he would find it one bit funny if it happened to him here in real life.

Fortunately though nothing happened to him and he made it to the entrance ramp of the ship without encountering anyone else along the way. Walking up the ramp he saw that Bishop was apparently getting ready to head out, most likely to look for him after the com-link was jammed, but soon the sounds of his approach caused the X-man to look up.

"Xander? Are you okay? We lost contact with you about fifty minutes ago." Bishop asked with some concern while keeping one of his hands slightly behind his back.

Xander recognized the move as a subtle way of reaching for the pistols the guy had holstered behind his back. It was perfectly reasonable to be a little paranoid when you lose contact with a team member inside unknown territory possibly still occupied with enemy forces.

"Yeah. I managed to find the subordinate that Deathbird was talking about. She's a little banged up but I think she'll make it." , Xander said as he didn't advance on his comrade's position, "As for the break in communication that was caused by some weird looking robot I encountered on the way back. Must have been planning some kind of ambush but I think I managed to take it out before it could call for reinforcements. Still it might be a good idea to prime whatever defenses this ship has just in case."

This seemed to calm the tall black man since it would not be to the enemy's advantage to let the prey know about an ambush in advance. Once that was out of the way both he and Bishop made their way to the med-bay where Hank was still working on Deathbird although it seemed to be simple status checks rather than surgery.

"Hank! I found the subordinate Deathbird was going on about. She looks alright but I think I'll wait for your official diagnosis before I commit myself one way or another on whether she's going to live or not." Xander said as he laid the woman down into the medical pod next to Deathbird's.

"Then if you give me but a moment I will endeavor to provide you with the information you seek." Beast said as he moved over to the controls of the next med-pod and began to operate the controls.

Deciding to occupy his time in a more interesting manner than just standing there waiting for Hank to tell him something he looked over to the display showing the regent's life signs. He figured that medical displays were pretty much universal in how they chose to display a person's vital data. From what he could tell Deathbird's pulse and breathing seemed normal enough but her EKG readings seemed a little low, almost like she was in a very deep sleep. Still Hank McCoy of the X-Men was heralded as a genius back home on Earth and if he could operate all of this techno-junk he would be able to patch these two ladies up no problem. Deciding that he would sit by the Bird Lady's pod and wait for her to wake up he sat down in a chair seemingly made for that purpose and waited. While sitting he wondered about the weird outburst that this woman had made when he had tried to brush a lock of her hair back into place. He hadn't been making a lot of noise so that couldn't be it. Maybe her people have some kind of extra sensory perception that notified her when he got within a certain proximity to her. In any case it was something he would ask her about when she woke up.

"Well aside from a few broken bones and severe dehydration this little lady seems to be in pretty good shape as you said Xander." Hank said as he tapped a few pressure sensitive buttons on the control panel.

"So she'll make a full recovery?" Xander asked more than a little pleased to know that his less than gentle manner of getting her here didn't wind up making things worse.

"Indubitably my friend. Provided she receives the rest she requires." Hank replied with a cheery grin.

"Good. First aide is so not my forte." , Xander said as he turned to look back at Deathbird, "How about radical regent here? Is she going to be alright?"

"That is a bit harder to tell one way or another. From what little I can discern given my lack of knowledge about Shi'ar physiology she is in a coma." , Hank said as he glanced at the display above Deathbird's pod, "Still I have noted some progress in her recovery since she was placed in the pod so I have chosen to take that as a fairly positive sign."

"Well I guess we'll have to take turns watching over these two while the others are out looking for survivors." , Xander said as he tried to get comfortable in his chair, "I'll take the first watch and let you guys know if there is any change in their conditions."

"Are you sure? You don't really know how to work any of this equipment." Bishop asked with an eyebrow raised.

"It's no biggie. After all this isn't really all that big of a ship and I'm sure it'll take you guys thirty seconds tops to get here if you need to." Xander said with a confident smile.

"Very well my young friend. We will only be a room away if you need us." Beast said as he gave some kind of sign to Bishop that he should go along with everything.

Nodding rather than saying yes Xander looked down at his two charges, Deathbird and her subordinate, and wondered what he was going to do to pass the time.

_ Oh well! I'm sure I can think of something._ Xander thought with a small smile.

**_The Next Day, Med-Bay, Noon_**

"…And that about sums up what my life was like back home before I left for Manhattan. Not exactly exciting for a pair of warrior women like yourselves of course but compared to what most teenagers in America go through it was definitely strange." Xander said as he finished conveying the facts of his life to his unconscious listeners.

It might seem odd for a person to talk to two people who in all likelihood wouldn't remember any of it but it did the job of killing time and he was sure he read somewhere that it helped coma patients recover if someone talked to them a lot. He had no idea if that worked on Shi'ar women but he was willing to give it a shot and it wasn't like he had anything else to do. Ever since he first started with watch with the others they had done their best to make sure that he stayed on the ship. Apparently his more detailed retelling of his adventure in the space station had them worried. Especially when Bishop went to take a look at the alien he had killed and had found nothing where the body should have been. He didn't like getting sidelined like that but the X-Men had more experience in these matters than he did so he deferred to their judgment. Give him vampires, demons and the yearly apocalypse and he could do as well as any guy but give him aliens and ray guns and it was safer for everyone to keep him behind the front lines. So here he was taking about his life back in Sunnydale but making sure it was the edited for TV version rather than the uncut and uncensored version.

While he felt he could trust the X-Men he didn't want to send any unnecessary attention the Scooby gang's way. They had enough on their plate without the spandex super set paying them a visit and dumping a whole new load of problems on their plate. Besides considering that the aftermath of a super hero/super villain fight generally meant massive property damage and other collateral damage he doubted Sunnyhell would survive. Better for Hank and the others to think of him as nothing more than your standard 'trying to blend in mutant' that they probably ran into often. That way they likely wouldn't be looking too deep into his past and wouldn't find out about anything strange about where he lived or the number of times he visited a hospital. If they did find out about his unusual past then there would be questions and inquiries and before he knew it he'd find himself heading back to Sunnyhell to warn Buffy and the others. So not what he wanted to be doing! It wasn't that he didn't miss them or want to see them. He just figured that it would be better for everyone involved if he kept some distance between the gang and him. He was pretty sure those damn F.O.H'ers still had his name on file and at the very least put someone in Sunnydale to keep any eye out for any other possible mutants. With any luck though he'd wind up a vamp and get dusted by Buffy inside of a week. However his luck was never that good so until he managed to get rid of Kung Lung or found a way to trick the Friends of Humanity into believing he was one hundred percent human a wanderer he would have to remain.

"Any change sugah?" came a familiar southern voice from the door to the med-lab.

"Nah, nothing new to report Rogue." , Xander replied as he looked up see the skunk striped sensation standing just inside the room, "Then again hearing me talk on and on might just be motivating them to go into an even deeper sleep than before. Still they have to wake up and go to the bathroom sometime so I don't think it'll be much longer."

This of course had the desired effect of getting Rogue to giggle in amusement. Which was good considering how tense everyone was beginning to get. The others had been continuing their search of the station and were almost halfway done. Beast figured it would be another two days before they were finished and then they would disembark to head deeper into Shi'ar space. Assuming of course Deathbird or her subordinate didn't wake up and inform them of who exactly the invaders were and how bad the situation was. After if they had just gotten here in time to hear the fat lady sing then they might as well just turn tail and take these two survivors back to Earth with them. Aside from the haircuts and the white eyes they could quite easily blend in with humans and Deathbird might actually managed to start a new fashion trend with that haircut of hers. In the meantime though he was determined to keep the spirits of the team up and take their minds off of the slaughterhouse that was that space station. After all there was no way he was going to let them turn into deadboy impersonators. If it got that bad he just might save these invaders the trouble and kill himself right away or at the very least see if this ship had an escape pod or something.

"giggleI suppose they do!" , Rogue said with one of her cute smiles, "Anyway Beast wanted me to check an' see if you wanted to take a break for awhile."

"Nah I'm fine. Besides if I leave then Bishop will probably stick me with comm. Duty when I get back from my break. Do you really think I want to be stuck listening to Gambit and Joseph acting all snippy towards each other for five hours?" Xander asked with a mix of seriousness and levity.

It had been something that he had very quickly noticed in the last little while. Remy and Joseph got along about as well as Cordy would have gotten along with Buffy after a lousy day. Of course those spats usually only lasted a few minutes. With Gambit and the Magneto look-a-like it was more like an hourly occurrence that only got worse as the day went on. By the look on Rogue's face at the moment she didn't like the situation either between those two grown men. From what he had been able to learn from Hank both men apparently had their heart set on being the southern belle's one and only man. Needless to say that got a rivalry going between the Cajun and the blonde guy that was only getting worse. Oh they were civil enough when they had to be but as soon as things got safe enough they were back at each other like cats and dogs. Here in the med-bay at least he had some peace and quiet for awhile and had two beautiful ladies to look at who couldn't slap him if he stared at their chests for too long. Not that he did that all that much of course. He was a gentleman and respected both Deathbird and her subordinate as warriors. Anyone who could survive a massacre on this scale was to be respected. Still eye candy was eye candy and both ladies were providing him with some wonderful happy places to go to when he got bored or depressed.

"Alright then sugah. Just make sure you don't get too distracted that you forget to call Hank if they take a turn for the worse." Rogue said with a knowing wink as she left the room.

_Damn! Is she telepathic too!_ Xander thought with surprise as he reviewed everything he had thought while in the lady X-Man's presence since they started this adventure.

He sure hoped not because that just made him wonder what form of payback she would most certainly be sending his way would take. Anything was possible with this group and Rogue in particular seemed to have quite the evil mind when it came to revenge. He just hoped he faired better than Gambit did when she found out about the little prank the Cajun had pulled on Joseph.

**_The Next Day, Bridge, 9:00a.m._**

"Does that machine even know what coffee is supposed to taste like?" Xander asked with disgust as he forcefully swallowed his morning java.

He had gotten up just half an hour ago after trying to catch a few more Zs but finally decided that the combination of the X-Men moving about and the unfamiliar surroundings made that impossible. He was the sort of person that needed to become comfortable with both a new bed as well as new surroundings before he could sleep normally. It was like each time his parents by some miracle had decided to go on a summer vacation and decided to take him along rather than leaving him at home. He was never quite able to sleep well unless he was in his own bed in his own room. It had taken him two weeks when he had finally arrived in New York to be comfortable enough in his apartment to sleep to noon on his days off. Needless to say that trying to get some extra sleep in the company of super heroes while in some alien galaxy on a spaceship was making it even harder for him to get some sleep much less extra sleep.

"Wouldn' count on it mon ami." Gambit said looking up from the main control displays.

"Great. You'd think with all this advanced tech they got hooked into this thing a simple cup of coffee would be child's play for them." , Xander said as he tossed his cup into the waste disposal slot Hank had showed him on day one of the station search, "I mean I realize that Earth is out in the boonies for them but still I expected more from tech far beyond the scope of mankind."

"Guess it just goes to show you that even the brainy types can screw up something simple." Gambit said with a small grin showing that he too had a bad experience with the food dispenser himself.

"Isn't that the truth!" Xander said as he looked out the view screen to see if he could spot the search teams heading out for the morning.

It was almost three days since he had first hooked up with these guys and much to his surprise he was beginning to get along with them pretty well. Oh he would consider himself a lot closer to say Hank and Rogue than to say Joseph and Bishop in terms of officially becoming friends but he was working on becoming more than strangers with them too. After all he was going to be living with these people for the next week or however long it was going to take to complete the mission and get back home things would go smoother if they actually respected or even liked each other. So he was going to start with the easy ones to get along with like Gambit and leave the person who was probably going to be the hardest nut to crack, Bishop, for last. He was sure that the tall black man was a nice guy once you got to know him but that stony exterior of his was enough to make anyone want to keep their distance. It would be better for him to wait and gather some intelligence from the others before trying to have a conversation with him.

"So you stuck on comm. Duty or are the rest still asleep?" Xander asked as he began to ponder in the back of his mind how to get something edible out of the food dispenser.

"Comm duty unfortunately. You?" Gambit asked as he took out a deck of cards and began to shuffle them.

"More med-bay duty but the scenery is nice enough in there that I don't mind it that much." Xander said with a raised eyebrow signifying that there was some hidden meaning to his words.

"I'll bet. You just be careful 'round dat Deathbird." , Remy said as he began to lay out cards for solitaire, "Sure she's a beauty when she asleep but when she wake up look out."

"Yeah, I know. Just about everyone else has told me the same thing." , Xander said remembering the numerous warnings and advice concerning the sister of the empress of the Shi'ar empire, "Any luck converting the ship's language to English? I was thinking of doing some reading up on the Shi'ar while I wait for the two sleeping beauties to wake up."

"Beast managed to get an info pad and one of the computers to accept Anglais verbal commands but dat's about it." Gambit said reaching for a vaguely rectangular looking object that kinda resembled a palm pilot or digital notepad and passed it to him.

"Thanks. See you later Gambit." Xander said as he walked towards the door.

"Call me Remy Xander." Gambit said with a smile.

"Sure thing Remy." Xander said and smiled internally at the fact that he now had effectively eliminated Gambit from his 'people who I don't get along with' list.

**_Med-Bay, Two Hours Later_**

"Talk about dysfunctional." Xander muttered to himself as he pressed the 'next page' button on the info pad he was holding.

He had just finished reading the overall summary of the Shi'ar Empire and in particular the house Neramani and he had to say that his home life was beginning to look pretty tame compared to Deathbird's. First born of the house Neramani and scheduled to rule as empress only to be kicked out because of some kind of stupid prophecy the head honcho's advisors prattled on about. Exiled into space and stripped of her birth name to boot only to fight over the crown with her baby brother and sister again and again. Now apparently she was regulated to some sort of governor position over some recently acquired sectors of space that once belonged to a race called the Kree. To him it looked like she was being bought off by her sister with a small but respectable portion of the empire in the hopes that no more coup de tats would be attempted. Somehow he doubted that someone with Deathbird's colorful history would be satisfied with some small chunk of territory like that. More likely she's just biding her time and amassing resources for another try at the imperial throne. This little invasion by an unknown enemy though was probably one helluva set back for her though. She'd either have to speed up her timetable or wait until her own assets recovered before carrying out her plan.

Personally he wasn't sure where he stood on that. According to some of the comments he overheard the X-Men saying Deathbird was treacherous, deceiving and manipulative. The woman was apparently so dead set on reclaiming the Shi'ar Imperial throne that she was willing to do anything to get it. Still he could kinda see her point given that she was screwed out of her rightful position to begin with, kicked off her home world due to some stupid prophecy and pretty much besieged by usurpers and enemies almost every year. Given all of that her methods and tactics are understandable since there has probably never really been someone she could trust. After all if you can't trust your family, your kin, then who can you trust? Add to that the fact that there can't be too many trustworthy people she could approach for aid in overthrowing her sister Deathbird probably figured she had to become as ruthless and cunning as possible. In any case though there was one thing that she had that wasn't evil and that was what he was looking at right now.

"Cal'Syee Neramani. Pretty name." , Xander muttered when he looked at the section of the document he had been reading that listed Deathbird's original name, "Granted it's not exactly Nancy or Jessica but given that I've hung out with girls named Buffy and Willow it isn't really that odd."

In any case though that was neither here nor there at the moment and until circumstances changed it would be best for him to keep his mind on the job at hand.

It was then that he heard moaning coming from the pod that saw to the medical needs of Cal's subordinate and when he looked at her it looked as though the woman was about to wake up.

Activating his com-unit he said "Hank! Looks like Deathbird's subordinate is about to wake up so you'd better get down here."

"On my way!" Hank said over the com-link and Xander had little doubt that the blue Beast would be using every handhold available to get down here as soon as possible.

Deciding that the least he could do was open up the pod for her he got up from his seat and pressed the series of buttons that he had seen Hank press one time when he had to physically check on the subordinate's condition. The pod opened with a hiss as pressurized air escaped into the room and the lid slid into some kind of hidden compartment. It was a few moments later when the subordinate finally opened her eyes and Xander found himself wondering what would be the first thing she would do when she saw him. Some kind of formal Shi'ar greeting or maybe simply an inquiry as to what had happened to her and where she was.

It turned out the answer was neither as a first show towards his face almost too fast for him to dodge. Even though the punch missed he had not expected such a violent first act upon awaking from sleep from her and it put him off balance. This only encouraged the Shi'ar woman to press her attack and she all but lunged at him from the pod. Deciding it would be best to defuse this situation before it got out of hand he grabbed bother her hands and attempted to hold her still long enough to get her to calm down. This only partially worked as he had planned since she was apparently still in some pain from whatever injuries she incurred in the space station so a considerable portion of her strength was absent. He was pretty sure that if she had been at her full strength she could have ripped his arms out of their sockets. Since she wasn't at full strength though she seemed to go for the next best way to injure him and delivered a solid kick to his stomach forcing him to let her go. He only stumbled a few steps but by the time he recovered she was airborne with her hands aimed at his throat.

_Hank is probably going to kill me for this but it's for the best._ Xander thought as he grabbed the woman's arms while she was still in the air, planted his right foot on her stomach and flipped her in the direction of the door.

It was at that exact time however that the door opened to admit one Hank 'The Beast' McCoy so when one female Shi'ar woman collided with a gorilla sized man it wasn't difficult to do the math as to what would happen. Both warriors went down in a pile and Xander was left to do the explaining before he got accused of battering a patient.

"Heheheheh, one very much awake patient Hank, just like I said." Xander said in as composed a manner as possible given the look he was getting

"So I see." Hank said as he got to his feet as respectfully as he could without looking at the Shi'ar woman who wore nothing but a halter top and G-String underneath her armor.

"An X-Man! By Sharra what are your kind doing here?" the woman demanded once she got a good look at Beast's face.

"Before we get into that how's about you give us a name sparrow lady?" Xander asked deciding that it would be easier to explain things to her if he had a name to with the attitude.

"I am commander Ver'casai of Regent Deathbird's royal guard! Now you will explain what you are doing here." Ver'casai replied with ice in her tone that said her patience was being worn thin and that she wanted answers NOW.

"I assure you milady that our intentions are entirely benign. We were asked to render assistance to the Shi'ar Empire by Gladiator and arrived only two days ago." , Beast replied appearing to take no notice of her chilly demeanor, "We arrived at this space station and seeing the condition it was in immediately began search and rescue operations. Unfortunately so far only yourself and Regent Deathbird have been found alive."

"The regent! Where is she?" Ver'casai demanded with the worry a person in her position would be expected to have for her superior.

"Over here Ver'casai. She was pretty banged up but Hank thinks she'll make a full recovery." Xander replied before indicating the pod where the regent lay resting and recovering from her injuries.

Ignoring the rest of them completely Ver'casai zipped over to the pod containing her mistress and examined the display screen above it which showed her vital signs. Then she began to operate the controls on her own and while Beast did try to intervene out of concern for one of his patients Bishop stopped him. He was probably thinking the same thing that Xander was at the moment. Ver'casai would know more about her mistress' medical history and medicinal needs than anyone from Earth. Still the Zeppo wasn't about to leave the regent alone in the med-bay with her subordinate since he still unofficially saw himself as Deathbird's unofficial watcher until she regained consciousness. True he hadn't even had what could be termed an official conversation with the woman as the regent had slipped into a coma soon after asking him to find Ver'casai but he still felt he should keep an eye on the warrior woman.

"Which one of you has been in charge of her medical care?" Ver'casai asked after finally finishing with the adjustments to Deathbird's medical pod.

"That would be me Commander. I'm sorry if I made any errors in her treatment but I am afraid that I am somewhat unfamiliar with Shi'ar physiology." Beast said as he took a step further.

"Your attempts were competent for a mere terran but it would have required that she stay in the medical pod another three days at the settings you implemented." , Ver'casai stated with obvious contempt for Hank's medical skills and intelligence in general, "With the adjustments I have made my mistress should regain consciousness by the end of the day and be fully restored twenty-four hours later."

"Good. In the meantime perhaps you could enlighten us about who or what attacked the space station." Bishop stated as more of a command than a request without any regard for her superior tone of voice.

"That information is classified terran. You will have to wait until my mistress awakens this evening so that she can clear you for that data." , Ver'casai stated in a challenging tone of voice making it clear that she would not be moved on the subject, "Unlike that buffoon Gladiator I do not think you and your comrades will be of any help at all in defeating the current threat to the Empire!"

With that she left the room, no doubt to get some proper clothes on, leaving one perturbed X-man, one insulted genius bio-chemist and your average Zeppo standing there all wishing the woman had just remained unconscious.

"Well it could have been worse." , Xander said as he sat back down on the chair between the two medical pods, "She could have called me an incompetent fool and that just wouldn't be right at all given I did rescue her from that carnal house."

His comment was so absurd and outrageous it had the desired effect on the two X-men and small grins appeared on their faces. Just like back home with the Scooby gang whenever things got too tense or two or more members almost came to blows a light and irrelevant comment from him was enough to shatter the tense atmosphere and lighten things up a bit. After asking him to continue to monitor Deathbird's condition both Beast and Bishop left the med-bay and the Zeppo decided to resume his previous methods of killing time. Admiring the view and talking to someone who probably couldn't hear a word he was saying.

**_That Evening, Med-Bay_**

"Doctor's log: startdate… Er, today. Dr. McCoy recording." , Hank said into the medical computer's audio receivers, "We've been in space for nearly a week now ever since we were shanghaied by the Shi'ar imperial guardsman called Gladiator. He said we were to combat a force that poses a threat to the entire galaxy. Judging by the med-bay's sole occupant, he wasn't exaggerating."

_No kidding!_ , Xander thought as he watched the blue furred gorilla hand from a ceiling fixture, _The more I read about her the more I am certain that whatever took Deathbird down was something nasty in the extreme._

The Zeppo was pretty much finished going through all the files the ship's computer had on Cal'syee Neramani and even if the person who had wrote the file had been exaggerating a bit this woman was seriously lethal. Still he was fairly certain that whoever did this wouldn't expect a guest appearance by the X-Men and a former Scooby gang member. Then again it probably wouldn't change a whole lot even if they did know because anyone capable of exterminating four thousand lives wouldn't be all that concerned by a force of eight assuming Deathbird was in fighting form by tomorrow. Still he was optimistic since he remembered facing down a giant demon snake with his pals using nothing more than a few items purloined from the local military base and bronze age weaponry. After all if he and the gang could do that with stuff that was centuries behind what these Shi'ar people had then stopping a galaxy wide invasion shouldn't be too much harder.

Right?

Best not to think about it until we actually know who or what we're up against. Xander thought as he continued to listen to Hank's monologue.

"The ship's automated med-station is the only thing keeping her alive." , Hank said with genuine lack of knowledge, "But don't ask me how."

"You're saying she should have died, Beast." Bishop stated in his usual blunt manner.

"Quite the bedside manner you have there, Bishop. But, let's put it this way, if she was human she would be dead as a doornail. Because of the Shi'ar physiology, it is all too easy to think they're like mutants." , Beast said with some sarcasm at his comrades choice of words, "But actually, that is a misassumption, the alien race is more avian than mammalian. Although to be fair since it's we six who are trapped here in the furthest reaches of the Shi'ar Imperium I guess it's actually the X-Men who are technically the 'aliens' here. Hmmm, what's this?"

"Something off about Deathbird Hank?" Xander asked as he looked to the screen displaying the regent's vital signs and trying to see if anything seemed wrong.

"As near as I can discern from these readings" , Hank said as he pressed a few of the pressure sensitive buttons on the screen, "she's regaining consciousness."

"No kidding." Xander said as he watched one of Deathbird's hands grip his own probably in an effort to sit up.

Deciding that even if she was awake she'd need some time to recover her full strength the Zeppo reached into the pod and helped her sit up.

"The others … my people." , Deathbird said in a tone that was barely audible to the people in the room, "What happened to my people?"

For a few moments Xander was torn between sugar coating the truth so as not to cause her undue stress and respecting her status as a veteran warrior and telling her the truth. In the end though he decided that if this woman had the volatile temper that everyone else said she did the Neramani woman would likely be pissed later if he lied.

"I'm afraid they're all dead. The others are still searching the few remaining areas of the space station for survivors but the chances are slim that they'll find anything." , Xander said as she raised her head to look at him, "As of right now out of four thousand people only you and your subordinate Car'versai survived that massacre."

However Cal'syee only looked at him for a moment before examining the other occupants in the room. Her eyes narrowed and left the Zeppo certain that the last time the X-Men and Deathbird had encountered one another they had not parted under good circumstances.

"X-Men? By sharra, you were the last beings I expected to find out here." , Deathbird said before looking back at the Zeppo's face, "Still terran, you have my thanks for your honesty."

"You may want to belay your gratitude, woman … as I point out how … curious … it is that you and your subordinate were the only survivors." Bishop stated from the other side of the pod in what he probably believed was a good strategic position.

"YOU DARE?" Deathbird yelled and Xander had to wince in sympathy as the warrior woman slapped him hard across the face.

"Definitely. Definitely has to work on that beside manner." Hank said quietly at the display console.

_Yeah. Even I know that you don't say like that to a woman just getting out of bed!_ , Xander thought as he saw Bishop back up a bit in surprise, _It doesn't matter if the woman is a warrior or a normal young woman, you just don't do that!_

"I am Deathbird – of the house Neramani – sister to Majestrix Lilandra, Regent of the Shi'ar Imperium! And you dare to accuse me terran?" , Deathbird yelled as it almost looked like she was ready, willing and able to get out of the pod and kill Bishop right there and then, "If I did not vaguely recall it was you who rescued me from the ossuary below I would kill you for your innuendo that I was a party to that massacre."

"Dat's tellin' him chere! But don't feel too bad Deathbird." , Came a familiar Cajun voice from the entrance to the Med-bay, "Our friend from the future just has one of those 'suspicious natures'. But then again hangin' around that charnel house down there? It's got everyone a li'l on edge."

_Something's got me a little on edge but it isn't mass grave outside._ Xander thought to himself as a feeling of discomfort and unease began to rise within him.

Ever since he had merged with Kung Lung the 'sixth sense' that most people had that warned them of danger or let them know when someone was watching them from the shadows was much stronger than before. Where before it wasn't much more than a whisper in his ear it was now something more like hearing a TV on in another room. It wasn't distinct enough for him to be able to identify exactly what the source of his discomfort was without tapping into Kung Lung a bit more but it was enough to put him on his guard. Something about Gambit and Joseph wasn't right, it was like he was looking at two strangers instead of two people he had been spending the past week with. Slowly moving his right hand to where one of his energy pistols were he decided to make sure that he would be ready of things took a turn towards screwed-ville.

"Gambit. Joseph? You're late getting back. I was hoping that the delay meant you found another survivor?" Hank said as he looked at Joseph.

"No such luck mon ami." Gambit replied as he very subtly made a visual survey of the room.

"Perhaps Rogue has found something." , Bishop said with an unusual tone in his voice that Xander hoped meant he sensed something was off about this too, "Did she check in with you at the agreed upon time?"

"Don' go worryin' 'bout Rogue, ami .. she's perfectly safe where she is." , Remy said with a saucy smile on his face that seemed to be his usual carefree smile but at the same time was not the same, "I think I speak on behalf of all of us when I ask the bird-lady exactly what she 'members."

_That clinches it! There's no way that the Cajun I know would so casually push aside Rogue's safety! _Xander thought as he unbuckled his right blaster and let it slide into his hand.

"Perhaps that is not a good idea at this moment LeBeau. As I can attest, she's already been over-stimulated. Any interrogation can wait until she has properly recovered." Bishop said and behind him the Zeppo could see Deathbird placing herself so she could use the muscled X-Man as a shield making it clear she knew what was going on just like him.

Thumbing the power setting on the blaster from minimum to maximum Xander decided he would take no chances with these guys because if they were anything like the thing he had taken down a few days ago then trouble had just found them big time! As much as he figured that the X-Men were like the Scoobies in that they didn't like lethal force he figured he could say 'I'm sorry' to Beast and the others after they were safe.

"Au contraire, Bishop. We insist" Gambit said in a tone that made it clear he would press the issue with force if he had to.

_Time to make the move before these guys start pulling all their neat tricks out to show us._ Xander said as he raised his blaster and took aim at the one that looked like Joseph.

Almost in perfect synch both he and Deathbird let the laser bolts fly pelting the fake Gambit and fake Joseph with high powered ammo. Although he had to say that the Regent was taking a much more long-winded approach to it than he was.

"DIE! Die, you lifeless, soulless spacescum!" , Deathbird roared as she fired both of the blasters that had once been in holsters at the small of Bishop's back, "In the name of all who have suffered at your hands DIE!"

"What in the name of -- ?" Bishop exclaimed as both Xander and Deathbird continued to fire.

"Gambit? Bishop stop her while I stop Xander before they .. both .. save our fat?" Beast exclaimed before lowering to a dumbfounded whisper as he saw that neither imposter fell immediately as any human mutant should have.

"Kict … Zaraz?" came a distinctly mechanical sounding voice from the heavily damaged but apparently not dead Joseph.

There was no response from the one Fake Joseph had called Zaraz and all those still upright watched as the pseudo-Cajun dropped dead to the ground.

"Kict .. Shi'ar WITCH! Kict … It is you who shall cease to function!" , Fake Joseph declared as his right arm morphed into a seriously large arm cannon, "Kict … So swear the Phalanx!"

"Swear this!" Xander said as he lined up his shot and then unloaded a full powered shot from his blaster right into the Phalanx's head shattering and leaving a decapitated body in its wake.

"Well said young warrior. McCoy called you Xander correct?" Deathbird said as her eyes and Bishop's blasters never left the remains of their wolves in sheep's clothing.

"Yes." Xander said as he smoothly replaced the power cell in the recently fired blaster.

"I am impressed that you were able to perceive the deception these monsters attempted to perpetrate on us." , The Regent said as she finally lowered herself back into the pod as her exertions took their toll, "If not for the two of us your friends would have been like blind men being led to the slaughter."

"The Phalanx are old enemies of ours, woman. The shape-shifters once threatened the entire existence of the human race." , Bishop stated in a vain attempt to salvage his team's pride, "But how did you two know what they were?"

"I picked it up at first like a sixth sense thing that was telling me that something about these two robo-morons wasn't right." , Xander replied as he returned his blaster to its holster, "After 'Gambit' so casually tossed aside Beast's concern for Rogue I knew it couldn't have been Remy."

"As for me it was their smell. Humans – even mutated ones – have a unique stench to them. A stench these two were lacking." Deathbird replied as she looked down with disgust and anger at her downed enemies.

"Indeed. Then one question remains though." , Bishop said with a frown on his face, "What has become of Rogue, Gambit and Joseph?"

"Do you really need to ask such a stupid question? Whoever these Phalanx guys are I doubt they'd come trotting in here posing as our friends if the real deals were still walking around to ruin the 'surprise' part of a surprise attack." Xander said as he headed for the door.

"Where are you going?" Hank asked somewhat concerned and puzzled.

"To get the rest of the gang back of course." , Xander replied as though he thought it was perfectly obvious what they should do next , "I'm just going to stop by the armory to pick up a few things then I'm going to head to the last place Rogue and the others checked in at."

He didn't bother to listen to their words of caution since he figured that while it was true that these Phalanx beings were dangerous it was also true that the invaders already knew that they were there. That meant that sooner or later trouble was going to come after them in force so it was best to try and rescue their friends and get the hell out of dodge before things got too complicated. Besides these tin plated tonka toys weren't so hard to take down and once he picked up a few choice tools in the ship's armory he should be able to make a big enough distraction to get the others to safety.

_Besides judging from the way these guys talk they're probably as cocky as newbie vamps._ , Xander thought with a smile as he tried to picture how a Phalanx would look when they were utterly taken by surprise, _Shouldn't be too difficult. _

Back in the Medical Bay, One Minute Later 

_ There is something strange about that terran._ Deathbird thought as she continued to look at the door to the medical bay where 'Xander' had been a minute ago.

She could vaguely recall waking up briefly after the X-Man Bishop brought her back to the ship and seeing the young human looking at her. Unfortunately she also remembered **begging** him to find and rescue her subordinate in a manner more suited to a weak, pathetic peasant than a warrior of her stature. She was going to have to give that terran a more accurate presentation of herself as soon as the medical pod finished doing its work on her body. She would never let it be known that she had begged anyone for anything for any reason no matter what. Still Xander had shown a certain skill in detecting and dispatching the Phalanx who had attempted to infiltrate the ship. Add to that the fact that McCoy and Bishop seemed to possess only a vague understanding of what the young man was capable of. Even more puzzling was that it didn't seem as though he was actually a member of the X-Men as they had a familiarity between them that was sorely lacking in Xander's case. She would have to discreetly inquire about his origins when the chance appeared.

"Do you think Xander has any idea what he's doing?" Hank asked Bishop with more than casual concern.

"Unlikely. However he has also demonstrated good survival instincts both when he rescued Ver'casai and just now with those Phalanx imposters." , Bishop replied with a frown that only got deeper as time went on, "Still one of us should probably go with him."

"That is a matter easily dealt with." , Deathbird said before calling out, "Ver'casai! Come here!"

Only seconds later her second in command and the soldier she placed in charge of the bulk of her forces appeared in the doorway. She was dressed in typical miner's gear just like Bishop and McCoy and while this was not as Cal'syee preferred she doubted that any quality combat armor remained intact within the station for her subordinate to use. If her defense was lacking Deathbird was certain that her second in command would make sure her offensive capabilities made up for the deficiency.

"You called Regent?" Ver'casai asked she went down on one knee before her mistress.

"The Terran called Xander is about to leave to mount a rescue attempt to save three of the X-Men." , Deathbird said in her most imperial tone, "I want you to go with him and provide support when needed. When you both return I will expect a detailed report. Understood?"

"I shall make preparations to join him immediately." , Ver'casai responded as she rose from her kneeling position, "By your leave Regent."

Nodding to give her second permission to leave Deathbird had no doubts that Ver'casai had read her true intentions beneath the seemingly innocent orders. While her subordinate would carry out her official orders to render aide to the terran she would also be covertly gathering information on him at the same time. Every word the young man spoke and every action he took would be scrutinized by her second in command and described in detail in her report. If the boy turned out to be useful she would see to it that he 'decided' to remain in the Empire for a while until he had outlived his usefulness. If it turned out Xander was more trouble than he was worth then he would wind up just like the rest of these X-Men fools when she became Majestrix and annexed Earth into the Empire. In any case it made for a nice little distraction to keep her occupied until she could take more direct control of the counter attack against the Phalanx.

"Are you sure that's wise Deathbird? Xander and Commander Ver'casai had a small altercation when she regained consciousness and may still hold a grudge." McCoy asked unintentionally telling her that Xander had managed to get the best of her subordinate if only briefly.

_Interesting_. Deathbird thought as her opinion of the young man increased.

While being recently unconscious and no doubt still in some pain from her injuries Ver'casai would still have been a formidable opponent. It was one of the things she made certain of before appointing the commander to her present position. In battle a true warrior must be able to rise above injury and personal discomfort in order to achieve victory no matter what. That was what she made sure to impress upon all the candidates who had been selected to have the chance to become her second. Of them all only Ver'casai had managed to maintain her skill and efficiency despite the pain of the injuries inflicted upon her. If Xander had managed to overcome her than it was only logical that he would possess a skill level similar to her subordinate's. Either that or the young man was exceptionally lucky which had its uses on the battlefield as well as skill and power.

_I could find a use for such a warrior._ She thought before she replied "My subordinate knows her place McCoy. She would not take such action without my expressed permission."

Both X-Men seemed to doubt her for a moment but eventually they conceded that she was right. Just like she knew they would as she knew more about her second than they did so they had no choice but to trust her judgment. She would look forward to reading the results of Ver'casai's real mission when she returned.

She had a feeling it would be most interesting indeed.

**_Maintenance Shaft Leading to Rogue, Gambit and Josephs Last Known Position_**

Thirty Minutes Later 

The trip had been unusually silent since both he and Ver'casai had left the ship and headed to where Rogue and the others had last checked in. He had been a bit surprised when Ver'casai had shown up in the armory and informed him that Deathbird had ordered her to provide him with back up. When he had asked why she had pointed out in a snobby manner that she was more familiar with the layout and the technology of the station. It seemed like a rational and logical reason so he didn't bother to look for any hidden meaning behind her words. That had been half an hour ago and they were less than ten minutes away from their destination thanks to the shortcuts she pointed out. Some of them were blocked off by debris but most of them were in reasonable enough condition that they were able to use them. So aside from the occasionally arrogant comments from her along with the insults about his physical conditioning things went pretty smoothly all around.

As they finally reached the top of the ladder the funny and uneasy feeling he had experienced when taking an unconscious Ver'casai back to the ship had returned but it was much stronger. What that could mean he didn't know. It could mean that there was a more powerful Phalanx warrior nearby or it could mean that there was more than one Phalanx close by. In any case he wasn't about to walk into a room full of these bad boys without having a little present for them. Bringing his plasma rifle forward from its position on his back he took three cylindrical containers from his ammunition belt and slid them into a compartment about an inch beneath the rifle's barrel. By the time he had finished loading Ver'casai had fully emerged from the maintenance shaft and the woman was looking at his actions inquiringly. He motioned for her to remain silent and then indicated that there were as many as many as six Phalanx nearby and that he was taking point. He had been using the hand signals he could still remember from his Halloween as soldier boy and apparently the signals were universal enough that even a Shi'ar soldier could understand them or at least get a rough idea of what he was attempting to convey.

Keeping his rifle at the ready but not turning on the built in flash light on the top of the barrel he proceeded down the corridor in the direction of their destination. While he had momentarily considered disposing of the Phalanx he had sensed he eventually decided against it. No sense looking for trouble when a body could just slip in and out with the enemy being none the wiser. Unfortunately as he followed the corridors that seemed to lead in the direction where Gambit and Joseph had said they'd be looking he found that those same corridors were leading them in the direction of the Phalanx.

_ Well at least we know how they got caught._ Xander thought with some disappointment that these heroes had gotten themselves captured.

Once the feeling in his gut got strong enough that he was fairly sure that the Phalanx were in the next room he motioned for Ver'casai to mimic him and flatten herself against the wall as they approached the entrance to the next room. Moving as quickly but also as silently as they could both of them edged towards the entrance until they were about an inch from exposing themselves to whoever was inside. Giving the Shi'ar woman behind him the signal to stop he reached into one of the pockets on the ammo belt and pulled out something he had purloined from Rogue's civilian clothes. It was a make-up mirror and like all women on Earth he had been fairly certain that the Southern Beauty had at least one with her. Stretching out with his left arm he used the mirror's reflective purpose to take a look inside the room and winced as he saw two Phalanx loading someone who looked like Gambit into a shuttle craft. The others looked like they were just hanging about providing lazy security for the shuttle. Obviously the ink brains didn't think there was any reason to maintain proper escort/security discipline in a wrecked space station.

Mistake number one for them.

Deciding to listen in for a moment rather than charge in with blasters blazing he closed out all other sensory input except for his sense of hearing.

"Kikt … should we not be concerned Oralis?" asked one of the Phalanx providing security.

"Kikt .. ?" Oralis just asked in an inquiring manner.

"Kikt .. if these two terrans found us, how can we be certain there are not others who will scan us? We know from our collective consciousness these X-Men are a formidable foe." , Asked the Security Phalanx with concern, "After finding Zelaz killed earlier by energy weapons we know that there must be at least one more terran unaccounted for."

"Kikt .. their defeat of the expedition on Sol III was only a setback. We have learned from that experience." , Oralis said derisively at the idea that they should be worried, "Kikt … we have already cut a swath through the carbon-based center of the Shi'ar Imperium … it is … kikt … only a matter of time before the entire universe is ours to consume. Kikt … after a hundred thousand lifecycles, the Phalanx are at last within reach of our manifest destiny. What possible difference can a podful of 'X-Men' make in the …"

_Alright! That's enough listening in! Time to make these choke on that crap they're spewing!_ , Xander thought as he prepared to jump into the fray, _Besides I doubt I could keep Ver'casai back anymore given how badly these Phalanx just insulted her people._

Unfortunately for the Zeppo and the Shi'ar warrior someone else had decided to deliver the first blow and as expected she did it with a bang.

"Are y'all being rhetorical, fellas or do ah get a chance t'answer?" came Rogue's southern voice and a moment later the entire ground shook as she hit the floor hard in the room.

So much for catching them by surprise, Xander thought before he turned to Ver'casai and said, "Get to the shuttle and spring Gambit and Joseph! I'll go to give Rogue some back up!"

"I am a Shi'ar warrior! Second in commander to Regent Deathbird herself!" , Ver'casai said angrily as though he had just insulted her, "I will not be held back from this fight!"

Grabbing her roughly by the shoulder he pulled her so she was face to face with him and let his anger be shown in his eyes as they no doubt glowed extra brightly.

"You will do as I say! Deathbird ordered you to provide support for me! That means that **I** am in command!" , Xander said in his best no nonsense drill sergeant tone, "Besides if you took a minute to think you would realize that once you free Gambit and Joseph we can catch the Phalanx in a crossfire and obliterate them! Now **GO**!"

He hadn't wanted to get so hostile towards her but he needed her to follow her orders and he needed her to do it NOW! Judging by the surprise on her face and the almost automatic nod she had gotten the message and gripped her twin blaster pistols to show she was ready. With that he charged around the corner and just as some of the Phalanx turned to look in his direction he lined up a full powered shot with his rifle and let superheated plasma fly. He almost let his jaw go slack as he saw the horizontal column of energy tear through the first Phalanx's head and seriously damage the back of another. Moving over to some debris that could offer him some cover in case they decided to fire back he hid behind it for a moment while preparing for his next attack. Rogue however decided to take advantage of her surprise reinforcements and punched through the floor beneath on of the Phalanx tearing its right leg off.

"Kikt … this unit's lower limb?" Oralis said in as much surprise as a machine could manage.

"Sorry, fella … didn't think you'd need it – since in a sec, y'all 're gonna be so much scrap metal anyway!" Rogue said as she exploded from the ground and looked like she was going to punch a hole right through her enemy's chest.

Deciding turnabout was fair play and deciding that he would be able to get any more precision shots off he switched his rifle from single shot to semi-automatic and began laying down fire in short bursts. Just as Rogue's attack from below had caught them by surprise his attack from the side also seemed to knock the Phalanx warriors off balance. It didn't last though and much to his annoyance the two that decided to take care of him began to move faster than he could accurately aim with only a tenth of his shots making contact. Deciding it was time to deliver his surprise he activated the compartment he had slipped the three cylindrical into and fired at a spot just in front of the lead Phalanx warrior heading his way. With a slightly bigger bang than he had anticipated the plasma grenade launcher on his rifle worked like a charm and stopped both Phalanx in their tracks and set them up for his knockout punch. Quickly pumping the next shot into the launcher he fired again but this time directly at his two mechanical sparring partners. The chest of Phalanx warrior number one exploded leaving his upper body connected to his lower body only by the slimmest of connections. However when he turned to fire on the second one he found that it had used the cover produced by its destroyed comrade to close to within striking distance of him. Knowing that another grenade would hurt him as much as it would destroy the Phalanx warrior but also realizing that he had no time to switch back to plasma blasts he did the next best thing. Pressing a red button on the side of the rifle he dropped it and jumped up vertically as hard as he could. Three seconds later the warrior stopped right where he had once been and one second after that the rifle overloaded and detonated. The blast tore apart the Phalanx's entire lower body but the upper body was still functioning and seemed ready to skewer him when he came back down.

Grinning in a feral manner he pulled his blaster pistols and let loose a downpour of heavy fire down on the Phalanx beneath him which tore through the ebon warrior like hundred mile an hour hail stones. By the time the Zeppo touched down there was nothing left of his second adversary but a pile of stinking flesh and fried circuits. Looking to see how Rogue was doing he was shocked to find her trapped with a Phalanx wrapping its arms tightly around her body. Preparing to charge in like the cavalry he stopped as he spotted a familiar figure leap onto the back of the Phalanx restraining Rogue. Deciding that the Cajun could free Rogue on his own without any extra assistance he scanned the room with his eyes to see if the Phalanx here were about to receive any reinforcements of their own. He could see Ver'casai helping Joseph out of some kind of containment cylinder and hoped that the platinum blonde man could shake off any grogginess he still had quickly. With all the commotion they were stirring up here it was only a matter of time before the rest of the robo-twits found out what was going on and came running.

A massive explosion rocked the area and the Zeppo was almost thrown clear off his feet by the blast. Only a firm grip on some dug in debris and a bit of Kung Lung's strength kept him more or less in place. Once enough of the blast subsided he turned and saw that Gambit had been successful in freeing Rogue and the blast, presumably his, had thrown them right into Joseph. Jogging over he was only able to catch the last little bit of what the Magneto look-a-like said in response to a comment from the Cajun.

"Your insane plan apparently worked. The Phalanx separated itself in an effort to prevent contamination of its larger core." Joseph said with a bit of annoyance directed at Remy.

"I know, mon ami, I was dere." , Gambit said in a 'duh' like tone as he figured Joseph had just stated the obvious, "What d'you say, chere You okay?"

"Ah was there." , the Southern Belle replied with a shaky and fearful voice, "For an instant … ah was one o'them. When ah linked with the Phalanx, ah saw what they did to … to Chandilar … the Shi'ar homeworld. Ah've seen the forces they gathered – the civilizations they've swallowed whole. Ah know what they intend to do with the Shi'ar … an' … God help us all … ah know what they have planned for Earth."

"Then boy won't they be in for a surprise when we wind up sending them packing!" , Xander said as he attempted to lift everyone's spirits from this doom and gloom moment, "After all if there is one thing that you can always count on with bad guys is that their arrogance always comes back to bite them in the ass in the end."

All of them, from Joseph through to Ver'casai, looked at him as though he had just told him he was going to dress up in a grass skirt and cocoanuts and do the hula. Not at all unreasonable of them considering that they were outnumbered, outgunned and very likely outmatched but then again that never stopped the Scooby gang from coming out on top. Besides if worse came to worse at least he wouldn't have to worry about keeping Kun Lung locked up within his body any longer.

Seven Thousand Light Years Outside the Orbit of the Prime Moon of the Shi'ar Throne World, Aboard the Imperial Cruiser, Armory

_This is turning out to be more interesting than I had first thought._ Deathbird thought as she began to slip on one of the few remaining uniforms that remained in the ship's locker room.

A little while after Ver'casai and the terran Xander returned with the missing X-Men her subordinate had provided her with a vid-disk containing a complete recording of the fight from four different angles. The Regent could only surmise that her second in command had taken a clip of vid-shells with her when she visited the armory and placed them in the area once the fighting started. The fight hadn't lasted very long but it endured long enough for her to get a taste of what the young terran was capable of. While a novice might look at the recording and see nothing more than basic military tactics and in some cases simple luck she saw much more indeed. There was resourcefulness there combined with an almost instinctual feel for combat that allowed the boy to adapt to any situation within seconds. A fine soldier but there was also what she didn't see that intrigued her immensely. While there was no outward sign she was certain that this young man possessed great power within him, power that she could sense on an instinctive level that went beyond conscious thought. Yet nowhere in the entire recording did he show any of this extraordinary power leaving only his golden reptilian eyes to hint at something more laying beneath his naïve exterior. In short he was a mystery and one that she was most interested in unraveling piece by piece.

Once she concluded dressing herself she left for the cargo bay where most of the X-Men were gathered working on some device of McCoy's that he believed would give them the advantage against the Phalanx. Personally she was willing to give the terran the benefit of a doubt as she knew he was smarter than most of his breed and would likely make good on his promise. However she had not remained in the cargo bay long enough to learn what the device was exactly as she tended to leave such matters in the hands of scientists and underlings. However as they were on the approach to Chandilar she decided it was time to see exactly what this 'advantage' was and how she could improve upon it with her superior intellect.

When she arrived all she could see as the results of the X-Men's labor was a metal capsule roughly the size of a large escape pod. Gambit was working on the circuitry on one side of what she surmised was the entrance to the capsule while Rogue and Bishop lifted heavy contraptions of some kind closer to the device. Ver'casai was off to one side apparently trying to covertly fish for more information by talking to Xander so rather than bother with speaking to the X-Men she would speak with him. Her subordinate would be able to assist her and make sure that what the terran had told her would be what he told the Regent.

"What is the progress on McCoy's little toy terran?" she asked Xander in her most imperious tone to make up for her moment of weakness when they first met.

Xander however seemed to be completely oblivious to her tone and answered as though **he** was on equal footing with **her**.

"We're almost done welding the metal plates to it that have responded best to Joseph's magnetic abilities and Bishop is helping Rogue move the last of the sensor jamming equipment into place." , Xander replied with no sign that he saw her any differently than the X-Men, "Assuming there are no screw ups we should be ready by the time Hank finishes powering down the ship and engaging the auto-drift. I just hope this plan of his works or else we're going to be a pretty attractive target for the Phalanx."

"And what plan would that be terran?" Deathbird asked while letting her voice lose some of its imperial nature since it seemed to have no effect on the young man.

He looked at her as though she had just repeated her first question that he had just finished answering. When she didn't elaborate on her question but rather continued to glare at him expectantly he finally sighed and decided to answer.

"The plan in a simple one. We let the ship drift into sensor range of the Phalanx ship orbiting Chandilar. Once we're all inside and close the door Hank will activate the sensor jammers preventing those cyborgs from detecting us." , Xander explained as though he was giving a lecture at one of the Shi'ar Universities on Chandilar, "About ten seconds before the Phalanx blast this seemingly derelict ship into itty bitty pieces of debris the pod will eject from the ship allowing us to escape the worst of the blast. Hopefully we'll look to the Phalanx like just another piece of debris and after a while Joseph will use his powers to guide us down to the planet. From there we make our way to one of the outlying military installations that still has a working transporter and use it to get into capitol."

"Won't the Phalanx detect the use of a teleporter and have soliders ready for your arrival?" Deathbird asked hoping to tear this plan to ribbons in order to propose a more honorable strategy.

"Beast figures he can rig the power emissions from the transporter so that it just looks like a generator or something has blown up." , Xander replied in a way that indicated he wasn't completely confident about that part of the plan, "With all the devastation down there it would just be one more thing for those wind up soldiers to cheer about. Remember as far as they're concerned they've already won so they won't be too careful about investigating every odd occurrence or explosion."

The Regent almost growled at the thought of those monsters gloating over the remains of her people's empire. She would show them! She would prove her superiority over her sister by defeating this enemy with no more than the warriors present right here and it would be a **grand** victory! Still she could hardly claim victory for such a cowardly battle plan as slinking into the capital like a coward.

"No." she stated clearly making her position clear.

"No what?" Xander asked although she suspected he knew what she was objecting to but just wanted her to say it out loud.

"This is a coward's strategy! Slinking around in the shadows like a thief! It is beneath a warrior of my stature!" Deathbird stated making it clear she would not go along with any plan that wasn't her own.

"Look I know it doesn't have the same ring to it like 'the brave warriors fought and slew a hundred Phalanx warriors' but we have to be realistic here." , Xander stated trying to convince her to accept the plan, "They have more soldiers than us, they have better weapons than us and we will not be receiving any last minute help from the Shi'ar cavalry. Trying to take them down head on is suicide and it will kill the one hope your people have of slamming the brakes on this invasion."

Deathbird was beginning to get quite angry at the way that this human was talking to her and treating her as though she were a raw recruit in the imperial military. She decided that before things went any further she would defeat this human in a battle of words and then she would take control of this team of miscreants and defeat the Phalanx.

"And while we're skittering around in the shadows how many of my people do you think will die because you and your friends were acting like cowards?" Deathbird asked as though he were so far beneath him it was disgusting.

"A lot less than if we get killed trying to take on the Phalanx head on!" , Xander said with noticeable anger, "Who do you think is going to rescue your people if we wind up getting killed before we even set foot on Chandilar? There isn't going to be a second chance at this **Cal'syee** so you better come down off your superiority complex and start thinking rationally or by God I'm going to tell Hank we should just leave you here to go up with the rest of ship when the blast it!"

She was somewhat startled as well as intrigued by the fact that he had called her by her birth name instead of the one everyone else in the Empire used in reference to her. The name had been virtually stricken from every public record and even the majority of the more classified ones. Obviously that muscle-bound buffoon Gladiator had given the X-men and Xander unrestricted access to certain classified files and this boy had taken advantage of that to learn more about her. Xander had made a wise choice for it would be foolish not to conduct some research on someone who could be an enemy or an ally given the proper circumstances. Apparently this young man was more realistic and practical than the rest of these fools and while he might not be their match in terms of experience or technical knowledge he held promise. Promise she was tempted to explore further once the crisis was over and the Phalanx army lay in ruins.

"Just because **I** am not afraid to confront my enemies with honor does not make this 'plan' of McCoy's any less cowardly." , she said in order to gain the upper hand, "However I believe I have a way to improve the odds that this child's mission will succeed. I have a hidden safe house in an old abandoned mining station outside of the city and it has a transporter strong enough to reach the center of the city. It is also design so as to be nearly undetectable by any known sensor grid."

"And you waited until now to tell us because ..?" Xander asked as though he were speaking to someone mentally deficient.

"I didn't believe that McCoy and his X-Men would choose such a cowardly means of dealing with the situation." Deathbird replied while giving him her best 'speak me like that again and I will kill you' glare.

Xander just sighed and shook his head repeating the mistake of treating her as though she was just a bothersome subordinate. This was unacceptable. It was bad enough when he dared to consider himself her equal but to dare imply that he was superior to her was something else entirely. It was time for this upstart to learn to respect his superiors. Like lightning she lashed out with her talons intent on leaving permanent scars across his right cheek but to her surprise he went underneath her attack and grabbed her arm by the wrist and elbow. Before she could withdraw the elbow he used the grip he had on her arm to throw her over his shoulder and onto the ground. As this had been unexpected she had not been able to break her own fall and so was temporarily stunned. However Xander used this pause to his advantage as a boot pressed down on her throat pinning her to the ground. However when she finally regained her senses an looked up at him she was surprised to find that he was not wearing the Shi'ar mining uniform he had moments earlier. Instead he was clad in some kind of armor, black in color primarily, with a white symbol adorning his chest plate that looked to be some kind of lizard or reptile. Such creatures were definitely the theme the forger of this armor used in its design for sharp teeth could be seen on the upper and lower parts of the area where the mouth would be. Claws or talons adorned each of his fingers and when looking to the foot pressed down on her neck she saw two such blades extended and ready to draw blood.

"Look Deathbird I don't know how things work on your world but where I come from respect isn't given to someone because of some title or because of what family they belong to." , Xander said in a voice other than his own, "It's earned and so far you haven't done anything but make it clear that you are a royal pain in the ass to be around. If you want me to start treating you like you think you deserve than do something to prove that you're worthy of that level of respect. Otherwise, as far as I'm concerned, you're just a waste of space on this mission and we all know what happens to dead weight."

With those words he released her arm and removed his foot from her throat before walking towards the pod acting as though nothing was wrong despite the incredulous stares the X-Men were giving him.

However before he entered the pod he turned and looked directly at Ver'casai with those golden eyes of his and said "You made the correct choice in restraining yourself commander. As Deathbird's second in command her life, her safety, is your primary concern and if I had sensed you were about to try something I would have been forced to do something … unpleasant."

With that he resumed his entry into the pod and everyone outside was left to wonder once more who Xander was and what he had been through to become the warrior he was. Deathbird was certain that where ever he had come from on that benighted backwater planet it had been a place where survivors were born. Xander had perceived a threat to his plans in her and had taken immediate and forceful actions in order to rectify the situation. He had even implied that he would have killed her if necessary and she had heard the honesty in his voice well enough to believe him. He didn't seem to be afflicted with the same 'no killing' morality that seemed to restrain the X-Men from taking such aggressive and permanent action. This placed him in a class above them even though he was not at their level of skill yet. Nevertheless though she would have to repay him for humiliating her in front of her second in command and the X-Men at some point in the future.

_The immediate future is out of the question._ , Cal'syee Neramani thought as she and her subordinate entered the pod themselves and took a seat across from Xander, _Even if we are successful in defeating the Phalanx it will take the Empire years to recover from the damage those monsters inflicted. Even my own territory did not escape serious harm. So instead I will wait until the right opportunity presents itself before avenging myself._

"Woo, Woo! Look at all the happy faces in here! Everyone up for this?" , McCoy asked in his ridiculously cheerful manner, "O-kay. Maybe not."

Once inside, with the door shut, Beast began to input presumably the ejection commands for the pod so that they could evade the brunt of the Phalanx's attack when they destroyed the ship.

"But seriously folks we're about ten seconds from ejection." , McCoy said as he took his place next to the one called Joseph, "Hopefully, the sensor jams we attached should keep us undetected."

"Hopefully?" asked Joseph with some concern.

"Shhhhh." Was the only reply McCoy gave the man.

The Pod, One Minute Later 

_I am so **DEAD**!_ Xander thought as he tried to keep his tough guy façade in place despite his growing fear.

Now not only did he have the Phalanx to worry about but also an angry Deathbird who would probably come looking for payback for what he did to her sooner rather than later. What he had done her was something he had left over from his soldier possession and while he had lost most of the memories from that night the instincts were something else. For that had been what had thrown Deathbird and pinned her to the floor rather than something he had consciously planned. The only thing he had consciously done was summon his armor for his own protection, give speeches to Cal'syee and Ver'casai and walk away like nothing had happened. Everything else had been reflex and instinct all rolled up into one neat and tidy package that had wound up putting him on the Regent Deathbird's hit list. Hopefully though they could just get this whole beat the Phalanx thing over with as soon as possible so that he and the X-Men could go home and leave little miss homicide behind. Then he could try to squeeze out a place to stay with the X-Men as a reward for his help here with the Phalanx. He was pretty sure could use the guilt the trip 'you are the ones who dragged me into this' to make them agree but he would prefer it if they did it of their own free will.

Suddenly there was a jarring and a sensation of suddenly being dropped and he knew that they had just been ejected from the ship. However instead of relaxing he braced himself even more as he knew that any moment now the blast from the Phalanx ship would tear through the cruiser causing it to explode. Thus it happened exactly as he had predicted and were it not for the seatbelt he was wearing or his grip on it he would likely have been thrown all about the pod. For the next few minutes everyone could feel the pod tumbling end over end riding the shockwave of the destruction of the cruiser before it finally slowed to a more bearable tumble.

"Well, that worked well, no?" Bishop said from his seat to the right of Deathbird.

"But .. wasn't that the way you guys planned it Bishop?" Xander asked looking at the assembled X-Men and putting them in the same boat as the African American mutant.

"Sure." Bishop said confidently.

"Of course." Rogue said a moment later although there was a flicker in her eyes that said she wasn't quite as confident as Bishop was about the plan.

"Well it's nice to see that my friends and I weren't the only ones to come up with half baked plans that **somehow** work out in the end." Xander muttered as he wondered for the umpteenth time what he had gotten himself into.

Hank seemed to hear this but chose not to comment.

"But one never knows, does one? Now for part two!" , Beast said before turning to Joseph, "Getting this impromptu life pod planet-side. So tell us you're up to the job, Joseph?"

"It is the very reason why you welded metal to the sides of this craft, McCoy so that I might surreptitiously steer us toward the facility Deathbird mentioned on the otherwise desolate surface below." , Joseph replied as the magnetic nature of his abilities caused his hair to look like it had a terminal case of 'finger in the light socket', "That is still your plan, is it not?"

"Sure. Of course. But for the record you people put an awful lot of faith in me." Beast replied with some humor trying to cover for the fact that even he wasn't sure this was going to work.

As Joseph continued to guide the pod down to the surface the Zeppo could feel the heat of the re-entry phase through the hull and hoped that they wouldn't wind up incinerating because of Hank's 'thorough' planning.

"How amusing, McCoy. I was just about to say the same thing." Joseph said sarcastically as the heat from re-entry began to fade.

"Don't worry Hank! The wake of the falling debris is covering us and the docking bay of the mining facility is opening up just like Deathbird said it would." , Xander said attempting to back up his friend's plan, "Otherwise we'd all be in various states of pain after the pod slammed into the side of the building on the surface."

It was kinda amusing to see Hank's relief at some support suddenly turn sour as the Zeppo spoke the last sentence. It had the desired effect though of easing everyone's concerns a bit and making everyone a little less snippy. It took about ten minutes for the pod to finally come in for a landing but it at least they were on the ground now. Hank was the first to reach the entrance/exit to the pod and after a few buttons had been pushed the door clicked open releasing the pressurized atmosphere within the pod. One by one they exited the pod and once all were out Deathbird was the one to take the lead as this was her facility.

"T'be honest, guys and gals – the fact that this place let us in makes me pretty nervous. After all Deathbird even confessed that she used to function as a safehouse when she was a full tilt enemy of the Shi'ar Empire, opposin' her sister Lilandra." , Rogue stated from a position mid-air above the group, "How can we be sure this ain't all been a set-up? How do we know we ain't about to meet the devil we do know 'stead the devil we don't?"

"You don't, X-men." , Deathbird replied as she took her place on the transporter pad they had come to, "But let's find out together shall we?"

"Well at least we won't have to wait long before finding out." Xander said as he stepped on the transporter pad with the rest of the group.

He knew that given what the X-men and the intelligence reports he had read said about Deathbird it was a possibility that she might be behind all of this from the invasion to their arrival. However a feeling inside of him told him that she was on their side rather than the Phalanx's. If only military and political targets had been destroyed then maybe the Regent might be a suspect as those institutions would be the biggest obstacles to her taking power but such was no the case. From the preliminary reports that Gladiator had given them access to the devastation was indiscriminate with both civilian and government sites being destroyed equally. Deathbird might be ruthless and determined but she didn't strike him as the kind of person who would support the massacre of millions of Imperial citizens just to get her hands on the throne.

_Well as long as the old Harris luck doesn't come into play everything should work out okay._ Xander thought as the room around him faded to blue as the transporter activated.


	8. Battles begin and Harris Luck Strikes

_**Shi'ar Royal Palace, Maintenance Shaft, Two Hours Later**_

"Well that counts as one of the most intense moments of my life." Xander said almost conversationally as he followed the rest of his team from the rear.

They had materialized in the basement of some kind of shop near the inner areas of the capitol city where most of the government and the Royal Palace resided. Much to his and the rest of the X-Men's own personal relief there were no goon squads loyal to Deathbird waiting for them. Most of the X-Men were still suspicious of her intentions, muttering something about 'brood', but as far as one Californian-raised boy was concerned it was a point in her favor. From there Deathbird had put on a copy of the armor that she had been wearing when Bishop had first brought her aboard the ship. It was form fitting but also looked durable so he wasn't too concerned about it being purely a fashion statement. In any case after picking a few odds and ends out from the cache of weapons stored near the transporter platform, mostly extra power cells for those among them with blasters and energy rifles, they began to sneak block by block towards the Royal Palace. He had also banished his armor after Beast had informed him that close quarters combat against the Phalanx was ill-advised as far as tactics went. He had tried to ask the blue furred mutant what he meant but Cal'Syee's impatience prompted him to shelve the question until later. It was believed that as the most important building on the planet it would likewise have the best defenses and therefore would be a likely place for any survivors of the initial Phalanx onslaught to seek sanctuary. However it also meant that the cyborgs would have spent a considerable amount of ammo trying to conquer it. That meant that it was likely they now controlled the building.

_Still if there are any survivors still alive they're probably being held here._ , Xander thought as he followed his comrades down the maintenance shaft, _Add to that the likelihood that Cal'Syee's sister Lilandra is also likely to be here and it makes sense for us to start our 'resistance activities' here._

Still it had been somewhat nerve racking slipping from shadow to shadow trying to avoid all the Phalanx patrol groups keeping the area secure. Fortunately they all had the good sense to stay focused on the task at hand and only had a few close calls. Fortunately some quick thinking on their part and in some cases dumb luck had kept them from being discovered along the way here. Now they were cautiously creeping along inside the walls and some cases the floors of the palace looking for where the prisoners were being kept. While it was true that their primary mission was to reconnoiter the situation and then come up with a plan to strike a major blow against the Phalanx it would certainly be to their advantage to be able to save the hostages. After all unless their plan of attack was instantaneous the Phalanx might decide to try and make use of the innocents close at hand and that was unacceptable as far as the team was concerned. For that reason Beast was tasked with interfacing with working surveillance monitors that Deathbird had apparently placed in the palace during her brief reign as Majestrix to inspect each room as they went along. So far all they had to show for their efforts were numerous pictures of ugly Phalanx looting the place for anything useful or just things that caught their interest. Needless to say neither Deathbird nor Ver'casai were pleased at the activities the monitor displayed and left the Zeppo wondering how long it would be before they'd lose all reason and just attack plan or no plan.

As they finally reached the uppermost levels of the palace they could almost tell by sound alone that they had reached their destination. Echoing through the air ducts and vents was the sound of laughing Phalanx, the same sound they had heard on board the modified escape pod they had ridden down to the planet, and everyone knew what was likely causing the monsters such amusement. Keeping his senses sharp and aware of as much as possible Xander and the others tracked the sounds to their source. When they arrived though and took a look through the vents positioned just above their heads all of them were horrified at what they saw. Some chose to express this horror with open mouths whereas others simply wore grim looks on their faces. In the case of Deathbird, Ver'casai, Joseph, Gambit and himself though they were more focused on the desire to exact terrible retribution on these beasts of metal and pseudo flesh. It was like the scene back at the space station except a hundred times worse since before all of the victims were already dead. Here though he was being forced to watch them die as they were consumed or in some cases just brutally murdered by the Phalanx. It was not a painless experience since the various members of the Shi'ar the Phalanx decided to have their way with were rendered speechless with pain. Only when the light of life fled their pain filled eyes were they finally released from this torment. Even then their desecration did not end as the Phalanx continued to consume their flesh until little more than husks remained. It was enough to make even him serious and angry beyond reason. These Phalanx were no better than vampires! Hell, they were worse than vampires! These metal monstrosities were evil in a way that only Angelus could match and even then he figured that even that soulless corpse would be fearful of beings such as the Phalanx.

It was with a gasp and a barely visible shudder on the part of Ver'casai that he was alerted to something pressing. No words were spoken but with the subordinate of Deathbird pointed in the direction of a grand window showing a spectacular view of space it was easy to realize what caused the shocked response. Down on both knees with arms stretched out to both sides by organic metal restraints was most certainly Majestrix Lilandra Neramani. Even in the tattered and damaged garments it was easy to see that she still maintained a royal and untouchable aura that came with being a ruler. From the way the Phalanx beside her was introducing superficial cuts to her skin it was clear he was toying with her. Still it looked like it had been going on for some time as she seemed barely able to speak much less keep her head upright. Looking at the growing emotions on Cal'Syee's face it was anyone's guess on how long it would be before she popped her cork. Deciding that as much as he would love to help her in tearing each and every single Phalanx soldier to shreds it wouldn't achieve anything in the long run. The people being murdered in there would still die and they would all likely join them after all information of value had been extracted. Moving closer to her side he made no overt move to restrain her but simply looked her square in the eye and shook his head in the universal way for 'no'. For a moment it seemed as though she was going to take out her rage on him instead but eventually she visible reigned in her emotions and indicated that she would not try anything reckless.

"Kikt … and still you will not expire?" , the Phalanx torturing Lilandra asked before saying, "Kikt … How … obstinate."

"I am Lilandra Neramani … Majestrix of the Shi'ar Empire." Lilandra could be heard saying in defiance of her foe but it was clear that words were the extent of the resistance she could offer at the moment.

"The 'Body Politic' of the Shi'ar is **dead**, Majestrix!" , declared a Phalanx closer to their hiding place, "The **Phalanx Dominion Reigns**!"

Looking at the slaughterhouse look that was in every corner of the room Xander had a tough time disputing this fact. Of the number of Shi'ar that were in that room only a quarter of them looked like they might survive to see tomorrow. Most were only lifeless corpses yet to be consumed by the Phalanx and those that still breathed had been injured in such a way that required immediate medical treatment. Time was most definitely not on their side and despite his years of saving the Earth of the yearly apocalypses he wasn't too sure if there was anything truly meaningful they could do here. Looking over at Hank though it seemed as the blue furred genius had a few ideas and was already toying with some of the wiring in the walls.

"You **realize**, O'course – dere is **no** **way** we're gonna **pull** **dis** **off**." Remy stated from his viewing position to the right.

It was clear from the look on Bishop and Joseph's faces that they held a similar opinion of their chances of stopping this invasion. The others were probably entertaining similar thoughts but were a little better at hiding their emotions than the rest of the group was. The odds did indeed seem insurmountable but Xander himself was not beyond having faith that they could somehow turn things around. 'Where there is life there is hope' was a quote that immediately came to mind and it was one that he agreed with completely.

"It's **just** that kind of '**woe is me**' talk that we don't **need** **here**, **Mr. LeBeau**!" , Beast said as loudly and as forcefully as he could given the situation, "Granted we **X-Men** are **better** **known** as a group of **mutants** dedicated to protecting a world that **fears** and **hates** us .. and granted, that world is **generally** **Earth** .. but whoever said we weren't allowed to broaden our horizons to encompass '**Overthrowing pan-galactic warlords'**?"

The Zeppo had to smile a bit at Beast's efforts to keep the spirits of the team from getting too depressed. After all if they got too depressed they'd just decide to give up eventually or set themselves up for defeat and that could **not** be permitted.

"**No one**, Beast. But I should point out a more important question might be – why haven't the Phalanx simply **killed** everyone already?" , Bishop asked with a suspicious tone, "It's **almost** as if .. they're **playing** with **their** **food**?"

It took only a moment for the answer to come as Deathbird muttered "By **Sharra**!"

Dropping to her knees it seemed as though the weight and the horror of the answer was enormous and enough to render the Regent speechless.

Eventually she said "The **children**. They're **after** the children."

This grabbed everyone's attention but the Zeppo's mind was elsewhere as his mind envisioned both what had most likely happened and what would happen if they failed here today. The reason why the Shi'ar weren't all dead was because they had surrendered in order to safeguard the lives of their children. The Phalanx were merely drawing out the Shi'ar's suffering both by physically harming them and taunting them with the possible fate of the Shi'ar children. This only made Xander hate this animals even more so than before as he silently made a promise that he would spare not one Phalanx if things came down to a fight. In a brief flicker of obscurity he recalled the motto of a character from the Anime series 'Rurouni Kenshin' and decided if only for this battle to make it his own. Aku Soku Zan, slay evil immediately, was the rule that Hajime Saito lived by and in this case it was a rule that would govern Xander's actions for this mission.

"Are you **sure**, Deathbird? There's no **sign** of any children." Rogue asked in a way that hinted she doubted the Regent's sanity.

"As **certain** as I am of the **blackness** of my **own** **soul**, terran." , Deathbird as she fought to regain control of her emotions, "Though she is the weaker of us, my **sister** Lilandra would have sooner **died** in **combat**, a death **befitting** the Majestrix .. before **submitting** to the torments of the Phalanx."

"You're proposing she **surrendered** ..?" Bishop asked posing the question that the Zeppo already knew the answer to.

"In **exchange** for the royal yet-born. If the Phalanx were to assimilate our offspring .. they will have effectively obliterated an entire **generation** of my race." Deathbird replied as the depth of the situation hit everyone.

"So what you're **sayin'** is, on **top** of ev'thing else .. de Phalanx are in de **hen** **house** with **deir** **claws** on de eggs?" Gambit rhetorically asked.

For a moment there was silence as the group as a whole took in this information.

Then Joseph asked Rogue "**Well**, Rogue?"

To which Gambit added "What **he** said."

Rogue looked slightly overwhelmed at her sudden promotion to team leader before asking "How did **ah** suddenly **become**..? **Never Mind**. Beast, whatever you got **plannin'** in that **blue-furred brain** is there any** reason **we can't spare **Xander** and **Deathbird**?"

Xander sighed a quiet sigh of relief that he was chosen to accompany Deathbird to protect the young ones. He knew that he was essentially an unknown element to the X-Men in terms of what he could do and as such Rogue might have felt more inclined to send someone she knew but he was glad she had chosen to trust him with this task.

"Oh, **sure**. **Eight** against a universe – **six** against a universe." , Beast replied in a conversational tone of voice, "What **possible** difference can it make?"

"**Xander**, take Deathbird and do what y'all can **t'save** the **young'uns** .. **free 'em**, if it's possible." , Rogue ordered as she looked him in the eye, "We'll hold them off here as long as we can."

"Ummm … I was actually being **sarcastic**. **Mostly**." Xander could hear Beast muttering while he continued to work on his grand plan.

With that being said the Zeppo took out his two energy pistols and after checking their status waited for Deathbird to lead the way. After all she knew the way to where the children were being kept better than he did and he doubted they had the time to spare to allow him to find it on his own.

"X-Men, in the **name** of my people … I cannot find the words to express my **gratitude**." Deathbird said grandly as she turned to lead the way to the children.

"Thank us **after** we've won." Rogue stated grimly conveying what she thought the next few hours would be like.

"Considering you are nothing **more** **than** humans .. your **courage** is admirable." Deathbird said almost offhand as if her estimation of their chances for victory were even lower than those of the rest of the group.

_**One Hour Later, Nearing "The Nest"**_

"Well I guess we know now why we haven't seen any guards for the last little while." Xander stated as he glanced at the black oil-like ooze beginning to coat the hallway he and Deathbird were running down.

They had remained in the shafts and ducts for as long as they could but eventually they had been forced out into the hallways as there were no ventilation ducts or shafts big enough for them to fit into that would lead them to where they wanted to go. Both wielding twin energy blasters they followed a leapfrog pattern of movement with one always covering the other as they advanced towards their target. However it only lasted twenty minutes as Deathbird soon became impatient with their slow progress and without warning broke into a run forcing him to do the same in order not to become lost in the Palace. He had been certain up until a few minutes ago that they would run into a Phalanx patrol but as they turned their fifth corner he had begun to sense something was amiss. Now with the appearance of this black tar-like substance covering every square inch of the corridor he knew the reason for the missing guards. The substance looked like a close match for the substance that made up the biological half of the Phalanx themselves and if that meant what he think it did the Phalanx now knew that there were two unknowns heading towards the children. It was a personal theory of his that the black tar were like pressure sensitive panels back home and that they were rigged so that when someone stepped on it without the right kind of feet an alarm would be triggered. If that was indeed the case then the need for speed became obvious. They would need to reach the children before the Phalanx could get to them if there was to be any kind of rescue.

When they turned the final corner he found that there seemed to be a sudden valley like drop in the room they had entered. From the diameter of the perimeter and the implied number of children he would guess that it had to be as deep if not a bit deeper than the deep end of the world's biggest swimming pool. However he could not visually check on the condition of the children as the entire 'surface' was covered in a layer of the tar-like substance. It was unknown if the Phalanx had filled the entire valley, children and all, with the substance but all it took was a look from Deathbird to make him willing to see for himself how far the tar went. Cal'Syee went first leaping to an apparently specific part of the mass of black goop and once he was sure she had enough time he leapt to the exact same spot. After a second or two of ickiness both of them broke through the barrier and discovered that the tar-like covering was no more than saran-wrap thick. Like the substance that coated the corridor that lead here it was likely only meant to alert the Phalanx of intruders in this area of the palace rather than actually keep them out. Once they had both safely landed he looked around to familiarize himself with the area so he'd be able to pick out any Phalanx that would come their way whether it be visible or in hiding. However all tactical thoughts left as he took in a place that seemed both surreal and yet also quite beautiful to him.

"My God! This is … beautiful." He said almost without knowing it.

"In its **own** **way**, it is everything the Phalanx opposes, huma –" , Deathbird said before stopping and restarting her sentence, "Xander. It is the **natural** **order** of things – the very **heart** of our society. It is the **one** spot where there is no **distinction** between the ruling **class** and the lower caste. In a universe where the Phalanx seek **total** **dominion** this is where **all** **life** is **equal**."

"For someone the X-Men say is both ruthless and treacherous to a fault Deathbird you're quite the romantic." Xander stated with a slight small as he beheld this new side of the woman.

"Is that a contradiction to you – that just because I choose to look at the universe through more realistic eyes that somehow I don't care about the rights and liberties of the myriad worlds that make up my family's kingdom?" Deathbird asked honestly without taking her eyes off of her surroundings.

"No I guess it isn't." , he replied before the feeling he had attached to Phalanx presence whispered in his mind, "In any case I think we'd better leave the philosophical discussions until later. I think it's a safe bet that the Phalanx know someone has made it here which means we can expect company fairly soon."

Getting into position where they stood almost back-to-back they both scanned their surroundings looking for the slightest out of place object or a sign that their enemies had arrived.

"Perhaps I was **wrong** when I though you were a weak human Xander." , Deathbird stated almost conversationally, "I'd thought you no different from your callow X-men friends. However you seem to possess a true **warrior's** **instinct**. How is this so?"

"Let's just say that my home town tends to attract some very nasty creatures that most of my people consider to be nothing more than myths." Xander replied trying not to be led into revealing too much.

"Myths?" Deathbird asked no doubt wanting further clarification.

"Demons, monsters, beings of darkness. When I found out the truth of their existence I teamed up with some of my friends to fight them any way we could." , Xander replied as he began looking to the left, "That kind of environment tends to breed strong warriors."

"**Demons**? Truly you are a wonder, terran." , Deathbird exclaimed as her mind no doubt found the information shocking, "It makes me wonder just how many of my own people's myths are actually true. Maybe I too should – **SKREEEE**!"

Whirling around Xander barely had time to catch Cal'Syee as she dropped the blaster in her left hand and clutched her abdomen.

"Cal' – what's **wrong?**" , Xander asked as he gently lowered her to the ground, "Were you attacked by an invisible Phalanx?"

Gently removing her left hand from where the wound seemed to be he tried to determine both what had caused it as well as how best to treat it before the Phalanx arrived if they were not already here. What he saw however confused him greatly as he could see no damage to her armor where the wound seemed to be. Blood flowed from the seams between the pieces of armor but nothing seemed to be there that should not be. It was then that he realized what had happened.

"This blood is from your old wounds! Somehow you've reopened them! That shouldn't be possible! Ver'casai said you'd be fully healed by the time we had to abandon ship!" , Xander exclaimed as he tried to piece the puzzle together which he quickly did, "Ver'casai adjusted the readings on the monitor to make it look like you were fully healed when in fact they were not!"

"There **is** no time to heal, human!" , Cal'Syee forced out through her pain, "Only .. a **coward** would think to convalesce amid a crisis."

"Maybe but only a fool would face odds like this with serious injuries." , Xander declared before trying to think up a way to get her to safety, "I have to get you someplace safe **before** –"

Deathbird grabbed him forcefully before saying "Before **what** Xander? Before I **die** **here** defending the **only** **thing** in life that has **ever** been **important** to me? Is that what **you** would do if your were in **my** place – **run** **away**? Or would you **stay** … and fight … with your **last** **breath**?"

For a moment all he could do was look at her but then he made his choice and retrieved her fallen blaster before handing it to her.

"Fine. However if you die in a way that that is not worthy of song and story I shall be most disappointed in you Cal'Syee Neramani." He stated as he positioned her in such a way so that they could act without hindering one another.

To this Deathbird merely smiled a vicious smile confirming that she would not fall before he did if it all.

_This is one long shot I hope pays off._ Xander thought grimly as his logical mind reminded him of the odds they faced.

_**Thirty Minutes Later, "The Nest", Deathbird's Perspective**_

"**Attacking** our **young**? Your kind is truly devoid of conscience!" Deathbird said as she killed yet another Phalanx with a double shot from each of her blasters.

The Phalanx had arrived roughly fifteen minutes ago and had been attacking them in unending hordes for that entire time. This was advantageous for both her and the human Xander as not only did it make it more difficult to miss them but it also lowered the risk to the eggs. The monsters seemed obsessed with killing them using close quarters combat but so long as both her and Xander's weapons had power they were able to prevent this. However it was quickly becoming apparent that no matter how efficiently they dispatched their enemies they were swiftly replaced by more Phalanx soldiers. This was a problem as it was unlikely that either Xander or herself had sufficient power cells with them to take on the numbers that were coming their way. Sooner or later their ammunition would run out and then the job of protecting the eggs would become that much harder. If Xander knew this or not was not certain as he seemed solely focused on dispatching enemies one after another.

This however aided her in unraveling the mystery surrounding the terran as his ability to conceal the true depths of his hidden powers seemed to falter somewhat. Out of the corner of her eyes she could see his speed increase to levels matching or perhaps exceeding her own when she fought at her peak. They were not quite blurs but it was clear that moving at such speeds was not at all a strain to him and even hinted that he could move faster if he wanted to. She found it interesting that he would choose to conceal the true extent of his abilities even from his allies. From her perspective it would give him quite the advantage against both allies and enemies alike as it would keep those he called friend in line while inspiring baseless fear in his enemies. It was also making her all the more determined to discover the entire truth about the human no matter how long it might take. Given that he was reloading his blasters and only had two more power cells each in reserve however it was uncertain if the gods would allow her that time.

"You seem to be running low on power cells Xander." She stated as she fired another shot into an oncoming Phalanx.

"Yeah but I'm not worried. I've got more surprises lined up for these losers if the blasters give out." He stated without fear as he lined up his right blaster for another lethal shot.

"You realize there is **no** **shame** if you leave **right** **now**, human." , she stated in a way that implied permission, "This **isn't** your fight."

"Forget it Cal'! Back home I learned two very important rules!" , Xander stated with unyielding resolve, "The first was that you never abandon a friend to save your own skin and the second was that there was no retreat from battling the darkness! I'm here for the duration so you'd better get used to it!"

"You **are** a warrior aren't you?" , Deathbird asked rhetorically with a bit of admiration, "I find that … impressive."

"Me too." He said with a smile before discarding his blasters and pulling the energy rifle off his back.

However in the time it took for him to do so a Phalanx was able to make it past their defensive line and before she could bring her weapon to bear on it the monster attacked. With a vicious black blade it sliced through not only the rifle rendering it useless but also managed to deliver a rather deep cut into Xander's torso. To his credit the human did not cry out but she knew it was up to her to deal with the Phalanx until he recovered his senses enough to resume combat. However when seconds passed and he failed to rise from his knelt position she began to worry that perhaps his injury was more severe than she had first guessed. Either that or she had vastly overestimated his abilities as a warrior in which case she hoped that at least in death he could be useful for something.

However as her intention shifted to three Phalanx charging as one from three different directions she came to wonder if this was indeed the time for death to come for the two of them. However as a rumbling growl filled the room she began to wonder if Death had come not for them but for the Phalanx attacking them. For a few seconds she searched the room for the source of the intimidating growling but it was not until black fame seemed to manifest from nowhere around Xander's body that she found the source. The flame at first seemed to flow over him like water before disappearing into nothingness once it hit the floor but then parts of it began to expand outward and take shape. From his back two large wings of flame emerged and from his feet and fingers talons of flame emerged nearly doubling the length of his toes and fingers. However the most captivating flame form that emerged cam from his face as the snout of some sort of lizard or reptile. It extended almost a full foot from his human face but just like the other flame forms that had emerged they seemed to move as though they were truly a part of him. His eyes still glowed with a golden light as she had seen before on the ship but there was something else lurking in the depths of the black slits that split the golden eyes in two. Something that was unlike anything she had seen in the myriad races she had encountered throughout the Empire and for a moment she was frozen by what she saw. She was not given more than a moment though to view it for as soon as it was over the Phalanx were upon them and she cursed herself for making such a fatal mistake as allowing her attention to waver.

However just as it seemed as though she would be given new injuries to compound the ones she received earlier Xander seemed to blur as he struck out at the enemies coming towards them. Two Phalanx were decapitated as a flaming wing swung outwards as it came to full extension cutting through the cybernetic beings' necks as easily as one might cut through a column of smoke. Another was split in two as the human thrust his right leg up and forward using the talons on his feet to cut through the Phalanx solider from crotch to the top of the head. All of this happened in the space between one second and the next causing the Phalanx who were still on the approach to pause for a moment to evaluate the change in circumstances. Bringing his foot back down to the ground and folding his wing back up so that it rested comfortably on his back Xander turn his eyes towards them and simply looked at them. Looked at them as though he could force them into a retreat just with an intimidating stare alone and for a moment it seemed as though it might work. However one Phalanx seemed to be more frustrated with the reluctance of its comrades than the terran and with a mechanical roar of rage charged the flame covered human with arms outstretched.

_This is the end of that Phalanx._ Deathbird thought without hesitation for even if he had the power to kill the human Xander his approach was fatally flawed.

Thus her prediction came to pass as Xander easily ducked underneath the outstretched arms of the Phalanx and with only moderate effort impaled the mechanical monster on his talon tipped fingers. Then with an unusual show of some sort the terran lifted the Phalanx off the ground with that one arm until it was a good two feet between the cyborg's feet and the floor. With narrow eyes she perceived a flaw in what the terran was doing for she knew that prolonged contact with Phalanx was not advisable. For that was how they began the transmoding process, a process by which their victims were transformed into one of them. Their body was filled with microscopic nano-machines that could convert an average person's body in minutes and so she waited with anger at her comrade's incompetence for the process to begin.

However instead of a look of shock and horror appearing on his face or the Phalanx he held grabbing hold of its victim to render escape impossible the only change to occur of the passing seconds was a trail of black smoke rising from where the two were joined. All who remained in the room took a step back at this sight as for the first time in recent history an organic individual was not only resisting the transmoding process but rendering it useless. What was even more surprising was that as the observers came to the conclusion that nothing could surprise them after that more trails of smoke began to appear but not from the point of joining but elsewhere on the Phalanx's body. With every passing second a new trail of black smoke appeared until the entire body looked as though it were being cooked from the inside out. The Phalanx warrior was convulsing sporadically as its circuitry was fried and in some cases melted beyond hope of repair. Then with a puff of air similar to a popped balloon the Phalanx warrior's physical form vaporized and aside from a small pile of ashes on the floor nothing else remained.

_How did he do it? How did he destroy the Phalanx?_ Deathbird asked herself as she tried to understand the power the young human had exhibited.

It was not until she looked closer to the hand that had been embedded in the chest of the dead Phalanx warrior that she came upon the answer. While his entire form was covered in black flame the air seemed to be distorted around the hand he had used to destroy his enemy. It was like looking at the surface of a landing platform on an uncomfortably hot day and watching the heat radiate up from the metal the platform was made of. With that analogy in mind it became clear that somehow Xander had generated sufficient heat in his arm to not only vaporize the nano-machines attempting to transmode him but also sufficient heat that when channeled into the Phalanx destroyed it utterly. It was a display of power that she found herself admiring as it not only brought his foe to a painful end but also served to impress upon the other Phalanx just what they were facing in him. She watched as he turned to look at the remaining Phalanx who looked as though they were considering retreat a valid choice of tactics at the moment.

They would not have the chance to make that choice though as without any warning or sound some unseen force rippled through the room and it had a profound effect on the remaining Phalanx. Right before her eyes black pseudo-flesh was repelled from metallic skeletons as the Phalanx were torn apart piece by piece. As though caught up in several mini-whirlwinds the flesh was torn from their technological components and as was natural for beings that relied on the union of the two materials they soon perished. Within moments all that was left of their Phalanx enemies were piles of circuitry and black fluids as the force that had once held them together in perfect unity was no more. It appeared that McCoy's plan had worked for she did not have enough evidence or sufficient understanding of Xander's abilities to connect him to the deaths of the Phalanx she had just seen destroyed.

With the crisis over and the fighting done it would seem that it was time to meet up with the rest of the X-men and Ver'casai to see how they fared in their mission. If her subordinate had done her job correctly her weak sister Lilandra should now be firmly in her debt. While this would do little to help her plans for seizing the throne when added to her failure to defend the territories given to her it would give her leverage enough to gain some concessions from the Majestrix. Before anything could happen though she had to calm down her human comrade who seemed to still be ready to take on new enemies.

"It is over human. It would appear that the X-Man Beast's plan to defeat the Phalanx was a success." She said as she began to move towards him.

With speed born of instinct and a hostility that seemed to belong more to an animal than a man he whirled around and took up a position that could go from defensive to offensive in an instant. For a moment she was concerned he might choose to attack her right then and there but when their eyes met the unsettling look she had seen in them earlier as well as the flame that enshrouded him vanished instantly. He dropped to the ground as though exhausted with only his hands and knees to support him as he tried to collect himself. This implied that he had not entirely been in control of his actions when the change had come over him after the vicious attack by the Phalanx warrior. What this meant she did not know but she did note that where there should be a gaping wound in the form of a vertical slash across his torso there was barely even a scar present now. The wound did not appear to have cauterized as a result of the black flames but rather it looked as though healing that should have taken weeks had been accomplished in mere seconds.

_Yet another unusual ability this human seems to possess._ , Deathbird thought as she watched Xander return to himself, _He is even more interesting than I originally thought._

Raising his head to look at her as he moved into a sitting position she could see that his eyes at least had returned to the way they had been before battle began but there seemed to be subtle changes elsewhere on his face. His teeth were now slightly pointed as though they belonged to a predator with his canines and teeth directly beneath them slightly elongated and pointed as well. His skin also was changed as she could see splotches of black scales decorating his primarily human face but the splotches were random in where they appeared. His hands seemed normal except that the nails were pitch black in color and she could tell that they were not that color because of some kind of paint or artificial coloring. Soon he noticed these changes as well and surprisingly began to frantically search his pockets and the compartments on his suit for something. He seemed to calm down when he found it and when he brought it up to his neck she saw that it was one of her people's medical hypo-sprays. The canister where the drug was usually kept was transparent so as to make it easier for doctors to identify what medicine they were using and when she looked at the canister in this hypo-spray there was some light green liquid inside. Without hesitation he pressed it up against a major artery in his neck and injected himself with a full dosage. What happened next left her with more questions than she originally possessed when they first met.

Within seconds of completely injecting the green liquid into his body his entire body stiffened as though in tremendous pain. His breaths came in gasps as the pain continued to rip through his body and for a moment Deathbird wondered if he would pass out from the experience. However it appeared as though his concern was for naught as three minutes later his body relaxed and with slightly shaking limbs Xander rose to his feet. Once he was standing she observed that the changes she had noted in him not more than ten minutes ago were gone. His teeth were once more human in appearance and the scales had vanished as though they had never been there to begin with. She did not even bother to check the other changes she had noted before as she was sure that they had returned to the human norm as well.

"We'd better hook up with the others and see what kind of collateral damage we've racked up." Xander said with only a slight wavering detectible in his voice.

"Indeed." Was all she could say as she followed him up the now accessible staircase that led to the entrance to 'The Nest'.

_**The Next Day, The Downtown Area of the Capitol City, Mid-Afternoon**_

Xander continued to pass out relief packages to the injured civilians around him but that was more a routine for him than something he was consciously doing at the moment. His mind still dwelt on what had happened in 'The Nest' when the Phalanx had not only cut his energy rifle in two but also nearly eviscerated him in the process. His mind was a complete blank from the moment he had first felt the pain of being cut open to when he was on his hands and knees wondering what the **hell** had happened. It was only by pushing the experience aside for the moment and bluffing his way past the X-men that he had been able to function at all. Whether they could actually see how shook up he was or not didn't really matter in the end as they had collectively decided to give him his space for the moment. He has been glad because once he had finished helping the survivors of the Phalanx invasion in the Palace get proper medical treatment he retreated to a nearby room to sleep in the hopes that he would feel better tomorrow. The room had been a lounge before the attack and while there was visible damage one couch had remained intact and that was enough for him.

Beast had woken him up the next morning explaining that the entire team would be heading down into the city to offer what assistance they could in cleaning up the city and tending to the injured. The blue wonder had stated it in such a way that made it clear he could decline if he wasn't feeling alright but after the restless sleep the Zeppo had gone through he wanted to keep both mind and body busy doing something rather than nothing. They had started out with the search and rescue teams looking through damaged buildings and piles of debris before moving on to passing out relief packages around noon. That had let him to where he was now but despite his best efforts to distract himself away from the events of last night it wasn't working. Little by little images of fighting inside 'The Nest' came to him with the moments before and after his memory lapse coming up more frequently than any other images. To this end his attention was split between keeping the images at bay and paying attention to what he was doing so he didn't look like a zombie. Still he couldn't help it when his train of thought led him back to the before and after shots of his memory lapse. Deathbird hadn't been overly helpful when it came to explaining what had happened and had only said as much as she had to rather than everything she knew. When he had tried to press her for more information she had given him her best imperious look and told him that she was under no obligation to tell him anything. Then she walked off in a huff that seemed to be put into the very genetic codes of females everywhere whether they're from Earth or Chandilar.

In any case he was both relieved and somehow disappointed that he was now carrying an empty box back to where the relief station was located. Now with his job of passing out the packages done he was left wanting in terms of what to occupy his time with. He would be hopeless trying to help the doctors in the medical tents arrayed throughout the city as he knew nothing about human medicine much less Shi'ar medicine. Most of the survivors in the city had been rescued with only the dead left to be found and buried. He supposed he could help clearing the debris away to pave the way for reconstruction but that might mean tapping into Kung Lung's power to increase his strength. After all the small 'moveable by a human' pieces were unimportant as far as the clean up crews were concerned. Their priority was moving the bigger pieces that blocked streets or prevented access to the interior of certain buildings. That stuff would necessitate super human strength but after what had happened in 'The Nest' he wasn't sure if he was willing to touch that dark power so soon.

It wasn't like he was swearing off the power all together as he was sure that something would happen in the future requiring something more than human to solve things. He just was a bit leery of the dragon magic after it had done something he hadn't willed to happen or knew could happen in the first place. He had done some loose reasoning based on the few facts that Deathbird had given him as well as the empirical evidence that he had in the form of a sliced open mining uniform and vague memories of the changes using Kung Lung's power had induced. Apparently he had been almost eviscerated by a Phalanx and somehow the trauma of the attack mixed with his already growing hatred of the Phalanx had caused a reaction of some kind. It wasn't what he feared in that Kung Lung's mind hadn't seized control but it had likely caused him to act as a Dragon King would instinctively act when threatened or seriously hurt. Kinda like when some people go on auto-pilot after a traumatic incident but a bit more dangerous given the power that resided within him. When the fight was over and the Phalanx were dead it apparently only took a look from Deathbird to snap him back to his senses allowing him to administer the potion that would undo the damage to his body.

In any case he made a mental note to always wear his armor when he was in the middle of a big fight. Whoever he faced might still be able to cut/blast/punch through it but at least then he could lose it with the knowledge that whomever he faced might actually take him down as well when the villain died. Looking around he decided to just find a place to hang out until the big gathering that was scheduled to happen sometime tonight. Off to the right a couple of blocks over he spotted what might have been a cathedral of some kind. He wasn't sure and was basing his decision on the for the most part intact stain glass window and rather fancy design. This sort of fit since in his experience churches and the like were generally built to stand out in the crowd and be different from all the other buildings that might be around it. True there were some religions that believed in bare essentials only when constructing their church most weren't entirely against the shiny and the unique in terms of appearance. While he wasn't entirely feeling religious at the moment or in need of some praying he was interested in seeing what the people of Chandilar prayed to when they needed to do so.

Five minutes later he was outside the building and found that the place definitely looked more impressive close up. It was a tall and majestic looking structure with two statues standing on either side of the building that looked like they were holding the roof up with their arms. There was also a set of large giant sized doors in the center but it looked like it was more for appearance than actual use as there were smaller more humanoid sized doors built into the bottom of the larger doors. There were a few people tending the place but most of them he presumed were priests rather than ordinary citizens since just about everybody who was physically able was helping the wounded and homeless. Walking up to the front door he nodded respectfully to the man who was sweeping up some gravel sized debris from the front steps. The man seemed to pause for a moment to look him over before nodding the same way before returning to his duties. Apparently humans were rare enough to be noticed but not important enough to disrupt a person's daily routine on Chandilar.

Once on the inside the church he was temporarily spellbound by the site before him as he took in the interior. If the outside had been impressive then the inside was downright awe inspiring by comparison. Despite the signs of damage it was still a majestic site with silk wall hangings and seats of every description. He figured were put there in case non-humanoid members of the Empire wanted to come here. Some of these seats were still intact while others had been broken in two by fallen debris. There were also some cushions and carpets on the floor arranged between the chairs. He assumed were also for people attending mass or whatever they called it here. What caught his attention the most though were the two statues that stood next to each other just beneath the stain glass window that had prompted him to come here. They were apparently the same people/deities/gods that the stone statues outside were modeled after but rather than being made out of stone they were made out of a more golden metal. He doubted if the statue was gold since this was made in a completely different planet and all but the way that the light from the stain glass window fell on it was amazing.

"They are statues of Sharra and K'ythri." , came a gentle voice from behind him, "They were forced into a marriage they did not desire but over time drew strength from that union and eventually came to love each other."

Turning he was slightly surprised to see it was none other than Lilandra Neramani, Majestrix of the Shi'ar Empire, with deadly looking bodyguards on either side of her. She stood before him wearing a blue and red outfit that looked like a cross between a jogging suit and business clothes. He didn't dwell on the fact for too long since he was sure that if he didn't understand Earth fashion he sure as hell wouldn't understand alien fashion. Not sure exactly what to do to greet an Empress he decided that a formal Chinese bow would be for the best and did so as competently as he could.

"Nice to see that you're looking better Majestrix." , he said politely but also conversationally, "I guess you looked worse off than you actually were last night."

"Indeed. The Phalanx soldiers were more interested in promoting mental suffering than physical torture on me. Though I suppose the same could be said for you." , Lilandra said diplomatically as it was clear she didn't know how to treat someone who wasn't officially an X-Man, "I remember seeing a sizeable slash in the miners uniform you wore and yet you seem as healthy as I am."

"Yeah, well, the wound wasn't as serious as it looked and I heal pretty fast." , Xander replied a bit uncomfortable at being reminded of the events of last night, "I'm just glad all the babies in 'The Nest' managed to make it through the situation intact."

"Yes, I heard about how you and my sister defended the Nest while the X-Men rescued the remaining survivors and myself in the conference room." , Lilandra said with some unknown feeling attached to her sister's name, "On behalf of the Shi'ar Empire and myself I thank you for protecting our young."

"Not a problem. Besides with Cal' fighting with me the Phalanx didn't stand a chance." Xander said with a smile but quickly noticed the change in the expressions both on Lilandra and her bodyguards.

"Did you say Cal'?" Lilandra asked tentatively as though she thought she misheard him.

"Yeah. That is Deathbird's real name isn't? Cal'Syee Neramani." He asked thinking it wasn't as big a deal as they seemed to think it was saying the Regent's real name.

"That name has been stricken from all official records!" , one of the bodyguards declared with some hostility, "You will not refer to that person by any other name than that which she was designated by the government."

Xander began to feel more than a little miffed at the bodyguard's tone of voice and his command to do something the Zeppo didn't want to do. He had read quite enough about Deathbird's past and had formed his own opinion of how she had been treated early on in life as well as how that had set the woman down her current path. Needless to say both the bodyguard's tone and the facts he had in his head were enough to motivate him into defying the 'law' concerning Cal'Syee.

"In case you've forgotten buddy **I** am not a citizen of this Empire so I don't care about stupid laws like that! If I want to call **Cal'Syee** **Neramani** by her birth name rather than some idiotic designation she got because of some stupid prophecy then I will!" , he said allowing his golden eyes to glow a bit, "Besides the way I see it the Shi'ar government deserve a pretty big piece of the blame for how she's turned out! So what if some prophecy said she would commit an act of great evil in the future! If that was the case then you should have tried to help her or try and prevent it from happening by helping her! Instead you decided it would be easier to toss her on a spaceship and fire her off into space! Some advanced race you are!"

Xander knew that he was going overboard with his words and that directing them towards Lilandra and her bodyguards was equally wrong. Lilandra had likely been one or two years old when her elder sister had been exiled from the Aerie home world. They would have been too young to have been able to do anything to change what happened or to save Cal' from the path others had laid out for her. He was about to say he was sorry when he was struck hard across the face and when he looked to find out who had hit him he was somewhat surprised to see a very cross looking Lilandra who may very well have been trembling slightly.

"How **dare** you! You know **nothing** about our people! You know **nothing** about my family!" , Lilandra exclaimed a few decibels below yelling, "The oracle that made the prophecy about my elder sister was among the most accurate of his kind! His predictions saved millions of lives! Even **if** something could have been done to allow Deathbird to remain among the Aerie the first duty of the royal family of the Shi'ar is to the people of the Empire! It would have been unwise to risk the safety and the lives of untold millions simply for the sake of one person no matter how precious she might have been!"

_Oh yeah! I've stepped in it **BIG TIME**!_ Xander thought to himself as he put any impulse he had to retaliate with an even **louder **counter argument in a headlock.

He decided that it would probably best if he went elsewhere rather than stick around and make a bad situation any worse than it already was at the moment. Still he was compelled by his earlier position to make one final statement for the Matriarch of the Shi'ar Empire to think over.

"Maybe. However if there's one thing I know from personal experience it's that there is nothing so painful as being betrayed and abandoned by one's own family." , Xander said with a serious and knowing gaze, "Besides maybe you couldn't have done anything about it when you were a child Lilandra but maybe you could try to do something now. At least get rid of that law that keeps Cal' from being called by her true name. I would think you could do that much."

Without waiting for any kind of formal dismissal or anything he turned and walked towards the exit/entrance never once looking back. If he had he would have seen the angry faces of the bodyguards both of which were contemplating teaching the terran a lesson for upsetting their Majestrix. Lilandra on the other hand looked as though a bomb of questions and possible 'what if' scenarios had just exploded in her mind. In any case the young man with the golden eyes had given her something quite frustrating to think about.

_**Balcony Outside Xander's Assigned Guest Suite, Just After Sunset**_

_Looks like one helluva bash down there._ , Xander thought to himself as he looked down at the lit up park area where the festivities were taking place, _Too bad I have no desire whatsoever to join the rest of the X-men down there._

He had managed to forget for a time the heated conversation he had with Lilandra and occupy his thoughts with seeing the sites and helping the common citizen when he could in some menial chore or duty. The sun had just started setting when he had returned to where the X-Men and presumably he had been told they would be residing until the time came to head back to Earth. Beast had been kind enough to point out his room and when he had gone inside he had found that someone had selected an outfit for him to wear. It was fairly fancy looking. It was completely black with the exception of some golden trimmings at the joints but definitely something worn to formal occasions rather than everyday use. Deciding that it was probably expected for one of the 'heroes who defeated the Phalanx' to attend the victory celebration he had dutifully gotten changed. However when he had gone out onto the balcony and saw the entire capitol city from high up he was hit by the reality of the situation that these people now faced. Before when he had been handing out relief packages and searching for survivors he had managed to fool himself into believing it was like helping out at the soup kitchen or something. He had tried to believe that it wasn't this bad all over but from his vantage point on the balcony he was able to see the city in its entirety as well as alien sky hanging above it. This wasn't just one world, one race or one country that had been hit by the Phalanx but an entire empire that probably spanned many galaxies. While the odds did suggest that a few worlds would have emerged more or less unscathed the majority of the ones with high population sizes would like have suffered greatly.

_All those people, dead or now homeless, and I'm even considering partying like nothing bad had truly happened?_ Xander asked himself mentally with a little bit of disgust.

Untold millions of sentient beings had been killed in the Phalanx invasion and many more had their lives reduced to almost nothing. To him that was nothing to be celebrating or even having a good time over. It should have been a somber evening with those remembering ceremonies like taking a picture of one of the deceased and placing it on a mini-raft with a lit candle before setting it adrift in an ocean or lake. Given also that Lilandra would likely also be there to mingle and assure the people that she was on top of things and he figured it would be a bad idea to tempt fate by being near her again. He knew he'd likely do his best to remain civil and courteous but that there was a real chance he might lose his temper again like in the church. Rationally he now knew he had been wrong in talking to the ruler of the Shi'ar Empire like that and perhaps downright suicidal but for some reason that bodyguard had pushed all the wrong buttons for him. Thinking things like that were what had led him to his current situation which was contemplating why he had rose to the defense of someone he barely knew and personally thought was a little too arrogant for her own good. In the end it all came down to one simple fact that he would rather forget about.

The two of them were similar in some ways.

Just as she had been betrayed and abandoned by her family it could be said that the same had been done to him. His mother and father had betrayed him by giving into the baser impulses the most dominating of which was drinking and had abandoned him by neglecting their duties as his parents. For him that had meant turning to his two friends, Willow and Jessie, for good times and happiness since he had accepted at an early age that he would find none at home. Later as he went through high school his circle of friends had grown to include Buffy, Giles, Oz, Ms. Calander and even the snobbish Cordelia Chase. Meeting Buffy had also given him a new direction to take his life along with the revelations about certain world truths. True he had been a support member of the Scooby gang rather than a full on fighter of the demonic but he had gained a certain amount of pride and self-respect when he successfully staked a vamp or killed a demon.

For Deathbird she had been exiled from her family and her homeland when she was very young for no other reason than some stupid prophecy that they hadn't been brave enough to stand up to and try to beat. She probably had to make her own way in the galaxy both in terms of basic survival and becoming the warrior she was today. Given the reaction he had seen on the bodyguard's face when he had used Deathbird's real name of Cal'Syee Neramani it was doubtful that many law abiding and helpful members of the Empire had helped her at all. That left the criminals and races that were not entirely on friendly terms with the Shi'ar Empire which meant treachery, manipulation and mistrust were probably introduced to Cal' fairly young. When she had gotten older and more self-reliant she had probably learned the entire score about why she was cast out and left to fend for herself so when you added to that being deprived of her rightful inheritance he could see how she could turn out the way she did. After all when your own family betrayed you, stole your throne and you had to work with the scum of the galaxy to both survive and try to get your inheritance back you have to change in some pretty dark ways. After all being all honorable and nice would get you either killed or enslaved when you dealt with people like that. The only way to survive would be to become just as ruthless, cunning, treacherous and questionable morally as the people you were dealing with. Despite that fact he perceived that Cal' did have a code of honor that she followed as best she could which was a good sign since most people on the other side of the wall cast off morality like most people get rid of nail clippings. The fact that she seemed willing to hold onto some kind of morality, no matter what it was, was impressive to him.

As for the parts in the history records that called her 'the wild one' and named her as the perpetrator of various crimes he knew better than to take them at face value. 'History is written by the victors' as the saying goes and he had little doubt that those who had acted as judge, jury and exilers had 'edited' the records to favor them and make it look like they were perfectly justified in exiling her.

Hearing the door to his room open he turned around and was slightly surprised to see Cal' there wearing some kind of green evening dress that looked almost indecent by most standards. Starting at the top were two red shoulder pads that were connected to a green cape that dropped down to just above her knees. Next came a black and green colored piece of cloth that came down over her chest barely concealing her breasts before joining with a black belt. Next came a green skirt that surprisingly opened in the front to the point where he could see her panties but thankfully for his sake it covered more than say a thong would. It was good for his sake because he doubted she would appreciate any undue staring and it was hard enough keeping his eyes off her chest. The final piece of her outfit was a pair of black slippers that had strings criss-crossing her lower legs almost like ballerina slippers. All in all it was both an odd site to see someone who looked so at home in her armor to be rather breathtaking in more social attire. When his gaze returned to her face after looking her over he found that she seemed to be either pleased that her outfit had an effect on him or uncomfortable with the fact he had looked her over.

_Don't want her to get pissed at me._ , Xander thought as he took on a more neutral look, _After all the lack of witnesses might be a bit too tempting for her._

"So I guess you weren't one to enjoy the party down there either, eh?" he asked partially rhetorically and partially with genuine interest to know her reasons for coming here.

"While I may have played a part in the salvation of the Empire I am still viewed as something of a pariah in the eyes of the people." , Deathbird replied conversationally as she walked towards him, "I must admit human I am surprised that you decided not to enjoy the revelry down there. It has been my experience that you humans enjoy such events quite a bit. Perhaps too much I think."

"Yeah there are some humans who like to party little too much but I think it's a necessity even for the most dedicated of warriors to relax and enjoy themselves every once and awhile." , Xander replied with a conversational tone of voice, "After all when you don't know what tomorrow will bring its best to enjoy your life while it's still there."

"I suppose so. You still have not answered my question." , Deathbird stated with some thoughtfulness at his statement before asking, "Why are you not down there with your friends the X-Men?"

"I guess because I don't think that the death of untold millions is something that should be celebrated." , Xander replied as he glanced down at the crowd below as it cheered something Lilandra had said, "Besides which I'm still new to this whole 'visiting another planet' thing and I don't want to cause an intergalactic incident by shaking someone's hand when I should have bowed or something."

"I believe you could go down there and kiss everyone there and they would still herald you as a hero of the Empire." , Deathbird stated sarcastically as she showed what she thought of his concern, "As for my sister's decision to hold a party the night after the Phalanx were defeated I believe it is her way of trying to raise the spirits of the people. Never before in recent history has such devastation been visited on the Shi'ar and some no doubt are beginning to lose confidence in the House Neramani's ability to rule."

"I guess then that a party would be one way to put a positive spin on things." , Xander said as he considered her words, "Still I think I'd prefer to stay out of the mix down there. So did you come all the way here just to ask why I wasn't down there drinking and making merry with the rest of the X-Men or did you have something else on your mind?"

"I thought you might be interested in joining me for a light sparring session in one of the working holovid chambers. The X-Men have something similar to it on Earth but they call it the Danger Room." , Deathbird replied with an indifferent tone of voice, "Since the 'entertainment' of my sister's party does not appeal to you perhaps something more physical might appeal to you."

_More like you want to see more of what I am capable of._ , Xander thought as he measured her invitation with what he had come to know of her, _That or she just wants payback for me kicking her butt back on the ship. In either case it speaks of much pain for this Zeppo._

"While the offer of getting my ass handed to me is tempting I think I'll just stay here and think awhile longer." He said before turning his eyes back out to the barely lit city below.

"It appears that you were not the warrior I thought you were Xander." , Cal'Syee stated with contempt as she was no doubt looking at him like a pathetic nothing, "You are just as weak as the rest of your race!"

_Now **those** are fighting words!_ Xander thought as his right hand shot out and grabbed her by the shoulder.

It was more the way she had said it than what she had said that had gotten him angry. Personally he could care less what she thought of him or the human race in general but he would be **damned** if he'd let her talk to him as if he were nothing. It had been talk such as that which had motivated him to handle O'Toole and his zombie brigade all by himself instead of going for help. While they may have meant well he knew for a fact that he had saved each of their lives more than once and yet this still sought to push him aside just because he didn't have any special abilities or powers. In the end he had been proven right when he had successfully managed to stop the zombie brothers from blowing up the school and as he found out later disrupting the Hellmouth binding spell. He had earned a measure of self-respect and pride that day when he had proven if only to himself that you didn't need to be a Slayer or a user of magic to make a difference. There was no way in this galaxy or the next that he was going to let some super Queen C wannabe talk to him like **that**.

"We'll do things your way then **Cal'Syee Neramani** but don't complain to me later when your hobbling back to your room a mass of cuts and bruises." Xander said as he moved past her knowing that the use of her birth name rather than Deathbird would unnerve her and perhaps give him the early advantage.

"We shall see who is the one to hobble to bed human." , Deathbird stated with a feral grin on her face, "I hope you have a high threshold for pain."

_**The Next Day, The Temporary Spaceport, Chandilar**_

_I will not look weak in front of **her**!_ Deathbird thought to herself as she walked towards the transport that had been prepared for the X-Men and Xander.

It had been in the early morning when her sister had come to visit her in the room that had been given to her for the duration of her stay on Chandilar. This act in and of itself was enough to put her on the defensive as her little sister rarely interacted with her at all much less came to talk to her in person. Their past was too complicated and bitter to allow for easy conversation. All too often one of them would bring up a moment in their past that they felt the other should atone for in some way and then the other would deny that they had any obligation whatsoever to do anything. Then it would all collapse into an argument followed usually by yelling before concluding in one of them walking off in a storm of anger. That was why they almost never saw one another or tried to work together except under the direst of circumstances such as the Phalanx invasion. It had made her wonder what possible purpose her sister could have for coming to her room and that curious feeling was all that kept her silent.

Lilandra eventually explained that the X-Men would soon be returning home but that given the state of the Empire many enemies were swarming in to take advantage of their weakness. Such enemies would easily see the 'saviors of the Shi'ar Empire' as tempting targets believing that their deaths would only further demoralize the people as well as the surviving military. Therefore Lilandra had requested that she herself act as an escort to see the terrans safely to their home planet. To provide further incentive the Majestrix stated that the act would gain her significant prestige among the people and help her to salvage her position in light of her own forces in the region of space formerly belonging to the Kree being unable to stop the Phalanx. Deathbird almost attacked her right there for rubbing her face in the fact that despite the forces that had been under her command at the time she had been unable to do more than slow the enemy down. Still she somehow managed to restrain herself from beating her sister to a bloody pulp and in surprisingly even tones agreed to act as escort for the humans on their way home.

It had been painful to get dressed in her proper body armor and cape, the wounds the human Xander inflicted still sore from their sparring session last night. She still let out a low growl of anger when she thought about how he had managed to hurt her despite his gross lack of official instruction in any known form of hand-to-hand combat. His moves were that of a brawler and an amateur with almost every move blatantly obvious to a warrior of her caliber. Yet despite that he had managed to catch her by surprise from time to time and deliver a moderate blow on her forcing her to back away for a moment to recover. She suspected that somehow he was also using his powers to increase his endurance, speed and perhaps even strength to make up for his lack of skill but she had seen no visible sign of that. Not like when he had burned that Phalanx soldier from the inside out. Still she had been satisfied to see him barely manage to hobble out of the holovid chamber to return to his room. While he might have managed to cause her some pain and discomfort she was fairly certain that he would feel the pain from his injuries for much longer indeed.

As she sat down in the main cockpit of the transport she immediately began to go through the pre-flight checklist to make sure that all the ship's systems were operating properly. If she was to be the escort for the X-Men on their way home than she was going to make certain that nothing went wrong. Especially nothing that could reflect badly on her and damage her position within the Empire any more than it already was. She agreed with her sister in that seeing the X-Men and Xander home would restore much of her reputation in the eyes of the people. However she was not blind to the fact that it would also allow Lilandra a chance to rebuild her power base and eliminate the possibility of using this moment of weakness to take the throne. By the time she returned from her journey Lilandra's position as Majestrix would be too strong for her to assail with the forces still under her command. Even if she left her subordinate Ver'casai behind to rebuild her army and forge new inroads into the political infrastructure of the Empire it would still be many months before she could even consider laying the groundwork for a takeover plot. In the end she had no choice but to concede this round of their battle to her sister and begin making plans for a counterattack.

Looking up from the controls of the ship she saw that the X-Men had arrived and allowed herself a small grin at the sight of the human Xander barely able to conceal his limp as well as being unable to conceal the bruises from their fight. It was clear that the others were curious about how he had been hurt or if his wounds were from the battle with the Phalanx rather than something more recent. However judging from the curious stares they sent his way it was clear that he had said nothing of what had transpired between them the previous night. This was good. It would keep secret the fact that he had managed to land several telling blows on her even though she was his superior in terms of skill. If he had told his comrades of their match she would have been considerably cross with him. She would have had to teach him a lesson with another match in the ship's holovid chamber and she would have made certain that he regretted his mistake. His silence on the matter had saved him from a serious beating although she might still invite him for a rematch once they were underway.

Rising from her chair she went to the main entryway to greet her 'charges' and assure them that they would arrive home safe and sound. Upon the door's opening she managed to catch the end of her sister's grand welcoming speech.

"…We've not only secured for you the best transport the Empire has to offer .." , Lilandra said before extending her arm in the directing of the entryway, "…But the best **escort** you could want should matters become … **uncertain** en route to Earth."

Needless to say having her assigned as their escort home shocked the X-Men to no end considering their dislike of one another. Xander on the other hand appeared to feel differently and she could tell from the look in his golden eyes. He knew that before he set foot on Earth that he would have at least one more match with her and that she would defeat him decisively yet again. This made her eager for their rematch so she could make his prediction a reality but before that could happen they had to get the formalities out of the way.

"Greetings humans." , she said neutrally so as not to offend them, "As my fellow **warriors** against the Phalanx it is your **right** for the duty you have performed for the Shi'ar Imperium that I personally ensure your safe passage home."

"Will wonders never cease?" McCoy asked under his breath in amazement.

The rest of the X-Men seemed to be of a similar opinion of her words but on the face of Xander there seemed to be a look one might almost call happiness. One might further say that this meant he was actually glad that he could spend more time with her and this Deathbird found confusing. She was used to people fearing her, hating her, ignoring her and transparently appearing to worship her but this was the first time someone actually seemed to like spending time with her. To this change she did the same thing she did whenever someone did something that she didn't understand.

She made certain to beat that feeling out of them as soon as possible.

_**Five Hours Later, The Transport Ship, The Holovid Chamber **_

"Is that the best you can do **human**?" Deathbird taunted as she leapt over Xanders roundhouse kick.

"The best is yet to come **Cal'**!" Xander replied putting extra emphasis on his own little nickname for the Shi'ar Regent.

Xander knew it made Cal' uncomfortable to be called by her birth name rather than by the name she had grown accustomed to thanks to those idiots in the Imperial government. His shortening it to something so 'undignified' would only anger her more and hopefully provide him with some openings in her defense. They had been sparring with one another for almost two hours straight with the current tally for him being one win and three losses. Rather than fight to the death as the Aerie woman no doubt preferred they had instead merely fought until one of them locked the other in a position to which there was no escape and no possibility of blocking the attack. Basically the same as thrusting your sword at someone only to stop when the blade was less than an inch from the target's chest thereby being almost as good as a killing move. The only reason why he had managed to get her into one such position was because he had taken advantage of one of her 'pose regally and gloat' moments. Needless to say he had a feeling that he was still paying for that and hoped that they'd get back to Earth before she managed to kill him.

Taking a few steps away from each other they began to circle one another looking for some kind of vulnerability they could exploit in the other.

"You have some potential human. A pity it will go to waste on that back water home of yours." Deathbird said in a way that was a cross between an insult and a genuine assessment of his skill.

"Maybe but it's still home and that's enough for me." Xander said as he lunged towards her with his right hand planning to grab her left arm for a throw.

"A poor reason for letting potential go to waste terran!" , Cal' stated as she blocked his attempt to throw her and then tried to reverse their positions, "While not of a superior race like myself you are still more powerful than any of the insects that live on your world!"

"Insects? Have you forgotten that it was a group of insects that helped you defeat the Phalanx witch?" , Xander asked rhetorically with anger, "From the way the rest of the X-Men acted the entire time I'm guessing saving the Shi'ar from destruction is a once a year routine for them!"

"You **dare** to imply that the Shi'ar Imperium is **weak**?" Deathbird roared as she used her full strength to lift the young man off the ground and slam him into a wall.

Needless to say that this caused the Zeppo to become disoriented as his body tried to deal with the shock of the blow to his body. When his senses and mind returned to proper working order he found that it was fortunate that he had regained his senses as he was now airborne and head for another wall on the opposite side of the room. Shifting his position in mid-air he used his legs to push off from the wall he had been heading for and land more or less safely in a crouched position.

"I'm **implying** that maybe we **terrans** aren't as weak as you think we are!" , Xander replied as he rose to a proper defensive posture, "I may still be new to this whole 'invasion' thing but I still watch enough news broadcasts to know that Earth might be a small planet it has some pretty big guns!"

That was true for the most part. While he didn't watch the news on TV all the time he did try and pay attention whenever a report on some super hero battle or massive property damage from the strange and unusual. From that he had gathered that there had been at least five major invasions or alien threats to hit the planet since he had been born and probably ten more before he had been born. To him that meant that while technologically Earth might be behind the Shi'ar by a few centuries they still had enough mutants and super-humans to kick some serious alien butt when necessary. He wouldn't be at all surprised to find out that Earth's heroes had even managed to save a few other alien empires as well in their spare time. In which case Cal' was way off base by calling them insects or even weak since it clearly wasn't true.

"A few scattered humans with some **pathetic** powers do not a strong planet make!" , Cal' stated as she made the aggressive move this time, "If my weak little sister had the wisdom she would have annexed your world into the Imperium long ago!"

Deathbird lunged forward with both hands extended outwards with the talons on the end of each of her fingers read to tear through his skin. Fortunately he had been waiting for just such a move so when his opponent got to within reach of his arms he grabbed her outstretched arms by the wrists. Using a combination of both his own upper body strength and her increasing resistance to his grip he thrust both of his feet upwards slamming them into her jaw before letting her fly backwards.

"I'd say that she has more wisdom than you do **Cal'**!" , Xander stated as he watched her recover with all the grace of a bird in flight, "Maybe you should take a look at humanity from Earth's surface rather than from orbit! A few months among humans might just change your mind about us **terrans**!"

"As if I would wish to live amongst **primitive** mammals for any length of time!" Deathbird growled as the once again began to circle one another.

"Yeah I guess a snobby stuck up princess like you wouldn't be able to survive without your fancy technology and your servants waiting on you every minute of every day!" , Xander said with a sneer as he noticed she had closed up the soft spot in her defense that he had exploited earlier, "Heaven forbid that you should have to actually work for your food and lodgings! You probably couldn't get hired on as a brothel whore much less anything respectable!"

This he quickly found out was the wrong thing to say to someone like Cal'Syee Neramani aka Deathbird as her speed seemed to triple as he streaked across the room and after grabbing him by the shoulders slammed him **hard** into the wall. Looking into her white eyes, the result of a secondary eyelid some what like the one that covers a shark's eyes when it bites down on its prey, he had the distinct impression that things were going to get messy in the next few minutes. Fortunately some higher being must have taken pity on him because at that exact moment the ship rocked violently causing Cal' to fall backwards and him to fall on top of her. Needless to say this position he was in only served to place him in greater peril as it left him with fewer ways to get out of this mess without offending the Shi'ar regent.

"Xander! Deathbird! Better get up here quickly, kids!" came Beast's voice over the ship's intercom.

"Get off of me human!" Cal' growled before waiting for him to comply.

Strategically placing both his arms and legs in the safest positions possible he go to his feet and quickly stepped away from Deathbird. Cal' got to her feet in a more dignified manner and after making sure she looked good enough to be seen by the others she stalked out of the holovid chamber in a most regal manner. Xander shook his head though as he was certain he had earned himself another beating at sometime in the future, both for his comments and for landing on top of her like he had. After all the only time a man was usually that close to a woman was when they were either kissing or .. well … you know … in bed together. He was harboring no illusions that Deathbird would ever even consider doing either of those things unless she had some sort of mental breakdown. If **that** happened though she would probably gut him the second she finished kissing him and that wouldn't be any fun at all.

When he had gotten to the bridge he found that all the other members of the X-Men were there but aside from Beast who was at the main controls the others were just looking out of the front windshield or whatever it was called.

"We've got ourselves a **spatial anomaly** that'd make Captain Picard's head spin!" Beast declared as he did what he could to keep the ship in one piece.

"That thing sure threw us f'r a loop, Beast." , Rogue commented before asking, "Any idea what it was?"

"It was an energy signature." , Cal' replied as she looked at a few of the station displays, "We were caught in another vessel's **wake**."

"A 'wake'? You know how big a ship would have t'be t'have dat kinda wake?" Gambit asked in disbelief at what the Regent was implying.

Looking out the windshield Xander tried to see if there was anything visible to the naked eye that could explain the nasty jolt they had received. However his view of the stars soon became obscured as a wall of dark green steel flew over the top of the transport at great speed. It only took him a moment to understand what he was seeing and that Gambit had just received the answer to his question.

"Lemme guess … **that** big?" , Beast said in reply to Remy's rhetorical question, "Yer not gonna believe this, folks … but not only is that ship moving nearly at the speed of light but it also appears that it's only using **partial** thruster capacity!"

"Ya gotta be kidden', Bete! Dat ain't **physically possible!**" Gambit exclaimed as he took in this information.

"Oh … like **I** don't know that!" Beast said sarcastically while gesturing at what the sensor readouts were telling him.

"But **where** in the universe did it come from?" , Joseph asked with concern equal to everyone else's, "And **where** is it going?"

"Sharra and Kythri preserve us --!" , Deathbird asked as she read the readouts on what Xander presumed was the navigations console, "I **know** where that vessel is headed!"

"**Where**, Deathbird?" , Rogue asked with a hint of fear, "**Where?**"

"Observe its trajectory, and compare it to our ship's navi-computer, Rogue." , Deathbird replied as she pointed at the computer in question, "They mean to use the stargate to transport themselves millions of light-years. It's course is identical to ours, and it leads to one planet … **Earth!**"

With the naming of his world the ship was rocked by yet another jolt that made the previous one seem like a gentle nudge. It was all most of them could do to remain standing as all about them various bridge stations exploded under the strain that the ship was being put under. It was like being in a speedboat cutting through the water right next to the mother of all cruise chips and right now their hi-tech speedboat was beginning to buckle.

"Can you get this thing t'stop spinnin', Hank?" , Rogue asked her blue furred friend, "Ah think ah'm gonna be sick!"

"Trying my blue best, Rogue!" , Beast replied as he frantically tried to force the ship to respond to the commands he was inputting, "I just want to see if I can get any closer to the stargate before that ship does!"

"I have a bad feeling we may be **too late**, X-man." , Deathbird stated as she pointed to where the stargate was outside their ship, "**Look**!"

It was then that Xander began to believe that his time had finally come. Looking at the stargate he could see the explosions cascading up and down its frame as the mere presence of the planet sized ship disrupted the space around it. Like a glass window attempting to stand up to gale force winds it looked as though the golden gate would shatter at any moment. Every moment it remained was a defiant stand against all known rules of science and technology but everyone around the Zeppo knew it wouldn't last. As the explosions around the frame of the stargate grew more and more violent he wished that Beast would have the I.Q to be able to figure a way to put some distance between them and the crumbling device but he knew it was hopeless. Even had the ship been at peak performance the sheer size and energy being put out by the much larger ship would still be dragging them closer and closer to the gate. To this Hank had only one thing to say.

"**Oh, my stars and garters!**"

For the Zeppo though his thoughts on the matter could be summed up in two simple if somewhat crude words.

"**Well shit!**"

With those words the ship began to break up around them causing all living things to lose consciousness amidst the fire around them.


	9. Back home and Back in Trouble

**_Unknown Location, Unknown Amount of Time After the Stargate Crashing_**

**_  
_**

"You know Cal' we really have to stop meeting like this otherwise people are going to start talking." Xander said conversationally from his position beneath the older sister of the Empress of the Shi'ar Empire even though internally he was enjoying himself quite a bit.

Despite what could be implied by what he had just said he had woken up only a few moments before so it wasn't like he had woken up and just decided to lay there and wait for the Regent to come to herself. True she wasn't ugly by any means and had a well toned body as well but he also knew that she was volatile and might react a little too harshly if he said or did the wrong thing. Hopefully she would catch on that he was joking and not that he had done or meant anything amoral because of what he had just said.

For a moment she didn't respond other than groan as her mind slowly reached full consciousness. However when her eyes opened and she finally realized where she was and where he was she did something he hadn't seen coming at all given from what he knew of her. Instead of a scathing comment or a punch across his face before getting off of him she zipped to her feet as though she had tripped, fallen and come face to face with a king cobra. Basically it was how he would have expected a normal earth woman to react to suddenly finding herself in a compromising position with someone she wasn't romantically involved with. Of course this behavior only lasted a moment before her usual 'I-am-Shi'ar-you-are-pathetic-terran' personae resulting in her looking down on him with disdain.

"You had better not have taken any liberties with my person terran!" said Cal' in a way that implied that if she found out otherwise he'd be in big trouble of the messy bloody variety.

"Don't delude yourself Cal'! You might look beautiful but you have the personality of snake." Xander said deciding it was best to just slip back into their 'I-insult-you-you-insult-me' routine rather than push his luck annoying her, "Now how about we start looking for the others and find out where in the galaxy we are."

"What makes you think we're anywhere near the X-Men or that they're even still alive?" Cal' asked with pessimism as he got to his feet, "The Stargate was crumbling down around us and the sheer mass of that other ship would have had a distorting effect on the destination co-ordinates."

"Two reasons: First there's the fact that we were in such close proximity to one another on the bridge it is a pretty safe bet that we all wound up on the same planet if not in the same general area." He replied sounding like he knew exactly what he was talking about even though he was in fact just making it up as he went along, "and secondly I prefer to take a more optimistic outlook on our situation rather than your pessimistic one. After all do you really want to believe that you're stuck on some unknown world, underground, with me?"

It didn't even take the Aerie Shi'ar woman a second to say, "Let's find your friends and get off of this miserable mudball."

After a quick search of the wreckage of the section of the transport that had come along with them to where ever they were they picked a direction and started walking. From the wreckage they hadn't been able to scrounge much aside from a more or less intact first aid kit and the Shi'ar equivalent of a Star Trek tricorder. The rest had more or less been reduced to junk and that was very bad for him because he had not been in possession of his capsules of Dragon's Bane poison when the Stagate had exploded. That meant that if something happened and he was forced to use the powers granted to him by Kung Lung he wouldn't have anything aside from his own will power to force the essence of the Dragon King back behind its boarders. That unfortunately was something he wasn't sure he would be able to do very easily if at all given the fact that lately he had been forced to increase the dosage of poison each time he had used the dragon's powers. Like he had expected his body and to a degree Kung Lung's essence was gradually building up a resistance to the poison. Kinda like how he heard about some people injecting themselves with slowly increasing amounts of snake venom in order to build up some immunity to it. He had already made a note to ask Doc Strange to try and concoct a stronger version of the poison but now it had been elevated from a 'something to do when there is free time' to 'first thing that must be done upon return to Earth' in terms of importance.

For the next hour they wandered along the tunnel they had chosen to go down when they started but much to Deathbird's annoyance and his frustration it did not seem like they were making any real progress. It was just one seemingly endless tunnel after another with no real hint to tell them if they were walking towards the surface of whatever world they were on or heading deeper underground. It was about when he was about to suggest to Cal'Syee that he use his dragon breath to blow a hole straight up to the surface that he spotted something bizarre up ahead. It was still fairly distant but unless his golden eyes were deceiving him there was something with a distinct vegetation green color ahead of them.

"Hey Cal'? Do you see something green up ahead?" he asked Deathbird as he picked up the pace just a little.

"Yes. It looks like vegetation of some kind. Shall we investigate?" Cal' asked in a manner one would find between two soldiers on a battlefield.

_Well at least that's a step up from the 'me Shi'ar, you pathetic human' treatment she's been handing me lately._ He thought to himself as he nodded to her in response to her question.

Increasing their pace into a light run they crossed the distance between them and the apparent source of the green they had seen fairly quickly. When they arrived though they were quite disappointed to find that the grass and bushes they had seen earlier were not real in the slightest. If it wasn't the lack of the proper 'walking on grass' feeling beneath their feet it was their respective keen senses of smell that informed them that what their eyes were showing them wasn't real. All his nose could pick up was the same dull rock and dirt smell he had been taking in since he had come too an hour before. Nowhere in the range of his sense of smell could he detect the smell of the few flowers he could see or the seemingly tropical bush to his right. Deciding to confirm his theory that everything around them was nothing more than an advanced form of holography he walked over to a nearby bush and swung his arm at it. He had his answer almost immediately as the moment his fingers should have made contact with the right edge of the bush it instead passed right through it.

"Apparently someone wants to make someone else think they're in some kind of tropical paradise but forgot to take the ability to interact into their surroundings into consideration." He said in a 'police detective' tone of voice, "On the plus side of things though whoever is responsible for this knows about Earth or at least has access to environment files concerning Earth."

"And how did you come to that conclusion Xander?" Deathbird asked as though he had just stated that the sky was blue because someone painted it that color.

"Well for one thing Cal' I recognize about half these plants from some scientific magazines I've read on Earth and given the detail of the hologram someone must have had access to the appropriate research material to replicate it so thoroughly." Xander replied while trying to sound smarter than Cal'Syee.

Fortunately for him his sound logic seemed to be sturdy enough that the Shi'ar Regent couldn't pick it apart without sounding like she was opposing him for more personal than professional reasons.

"If that is the case then we should try and ascertain the source of these holograms. Hopefully we can find the person responsible for generating them and 'persuade' him to tell us how he knows so much about your world terran." Deathbird said regally like an empress as she took the lead heading down the tunnel that was slowly transforming into a tropical paradise complete with blue sky and running rivers.

Both of them moved at a decidedly more aggressive pace as they moved down the rapidly transforming environment as they both welcomed the first signs of both life as well as a possible way out of the damned caverns they had been traversing up until then. For him it was the simple fact that the tunnels they had been walking down up until then reminded him a bit of the network of similar tunnels beneath Sunnydale and given the nasties that liked to make their homes down there he had no wish to see if these tunnels had similar creatures. Of course the possibility of finally getting back to civilization rather than spending who knew how long with Miss Personality before they finally had the opportunity to part ways. Given the attitude she had been giving him since they had first met it was safe to say that Cal's thoughts were probably a close match to his own. After all this wasn't like it was between him and Cordy where the insults and put downs were just a smokescreen for the sexual tension between the two of them. No sir. Not one bit.

He hoped.

They had been proceeding down the hologram-covered tunnel for about half an hour before Xander felt something that increased his optimism quite a bit. It was a pulse of energy that he had felt before and knew the source of very well as he had been living and fighting alongside the platinum blonde man for over a week. It was also a solid sign that if Joseph was here than the rest of the X-Men couldn't be too far away either. If they could all get together he felt confident that they could find a way to get back to Earth without a hitch. After all if they could stop an invasion and snatch victory from the jaws of the Phalanx armada then finding a way to get back to their home world should be a piece of cake. Not even bothering to inform Deathbird of what he had just sensed he sped up into a full run and took the most direct course he could to where he had sensed the pulse. Fortunately using a combination of common eyesight and his sense of smell in order to discern a real path from a holographic one he was able to quickly find a way to where he wanted to go and didn't need to blast down any cave walls along the way. He could hear Cal' cursing him and asking him what he was in such a rush to get to but he figured that rather than stop and explain his actions it would be safer just to take her there. After all if he was right then at least he'd have Joseph and his magnetic powers to pry Deathbird off of him if she decided he needed a pounding for taking off on her like he had.

It took a few twists and turns but before long he spotted the platinum-haired, purple outfit wearing X-man with Rogue standing not far away. At the magnetic man's feet though was someone who looked like they had been tossed around in tornado that had just torn through a paint factory. While it was true that the unknown person was predominantly blue there were splotches of numerous colors all over his body. Given that the holographic environment he had been running through had disappeared a little while ago and the unknown person looked like someone had punched him in the gut it was a safe bet that Paint Dude was the one responsible for the holograms. It took them a minute to hear his running footsteps as he wasn't really trying to be Mr. Stealthy coming up behind them.

"Hey Stripes! Hey Blondie! Fancy meeting you guys here!" he said with a voice full of humor as he came to a stop a few steps behind Rogue.

"Xander! You're here too? Have you seen any of the others?" Rogue asked quickly and he was fairly certain which of the others she was most interested in knowing the condition of at the moment.

"Unfortunately the only other person I've come across is Miss Hiss here but you probably know her better as Deathbird." Xander replied as he waved in the general direction of the approaching Shi'ar Aerie woman.

"Trust me when I say terran that it is a far worse fate to be forced to endure your company then it could possibly be to remain in my presence." Cal' stated royally as she glared at him in a 'you will pay for that comment' way that she seemed to be using on him quite often lately.

"ANYway! Whose the guy who looks like Picaso's finger painting practice dummy?" Xander asked as he tried to steer the conversation back towards the problem at hand.

"The name's Landscape punk! Show some respect for a true blue bounty hunter!" Landscape snapped as he tried to get his wind back from Joseph's EM pulse.

"And I should respect you why? Because you look so fearsome or because you sound like a wimp who just got his butt handed to him?" Xander asked with mock cluelessness and honesty as he looked down at someone truly pathetic.

This got a growl of anger from Landscape but he could hear Rogue holding in a chuckle and Joseph had a grin on his face to show that he was amused as well. He couldn't tell what Cal's reaction was to his words but he doubted she'd have anything other than a scowl on her face.

"Like the man said sugah his name's Landscape he's responsible for the holographic environment." Rogue said as she explained what she and Joseph had learned thus far, "He's a mutant and if Joseph's right we're on Earth somewhere. As for how we wound up here and why Paint-boy here made up this fake environment for us we're still tryin' to figure that out."

"Give me a few minutes alone with him X-man and I can guarantee that I will come to know everything he does." Cal' said with a mean voice and a scary look on her face to up the intimidation factor even higher.

"Now, now Cal'! I'm sure we can get the info we need out of the guy without resorting to torture with a side of dismemberment." Xander said with a completely serious look on his face but a look in his eyes that hinted he was bluffing.

"Nice try jerk! There's no way these two X-geeks would let that happen!" Landscape declared with confidence despite the cracking in his voice.

"Maybe but then again you don't know just how powerful I really am Landscape. I'm fairly confident I could keep both Rogue and Joseph busy long enough for Deathbird to do her thing and get the info we need." Xander said never losing the serious look on his face, "So how about you just tell us what we want to know now rather than force this femme fatale here to dirty her talons with your blood."

It was a bit of good luck that the two mentioned X-Men were quick to pick up on his tactic otherwise he would have a devil of a time convincing abstract-boy here that he was deadly serious when in actuality he wasn't at all. If Rogue or Joseph had attempted to intervene he would have had to give some kind of example of his 'true power' to drive them back. That would have been bad in that it would mean significant trouble for him in that he would have to take a moment to force the Dragon King's essence back into its corner of his body and it could have led to a brawl between him and the two X-Men as well. It was going much smoother with them knowing what he was doing rather than being clueless and jumping to conclusions.

"Power? You? You look about as powerful as my baby toe!" Landscape declared with some bravado as it was clear he wasn't intimidated by someone who just looked like an ordinary teen with the exception of the dragon eyes instead of normal ones.

Smiling a shark's smile he summoned his armor and extended the metal talons on both his hands to their fullest length. Crouching down in front of Paint-boy he traced a path from where Landscape's right ear should have been, under his chin, across his throat and to the spot where the left ear should have been with the blade on his right pointing finger.

Then doing his best Darth Vader impersonation, something pretty easy when the armor made him sound like James Earl Jones, he said "I find your lack of belief in my power disturbing."

Then, just to bring his point home, he tapped into Kung Lung's power just enough to make his golden dragon eyes glow extra bright and somehow managed to produce a decently intimidating rumbling growl. This got the holo-mutant's attention for sure and if not for the fact that his throat might get cut open Landscape would have probably been skittering away like a crab as fast as he could. While it was not easy to tell what expression the guy had on his face because of the nature of his mutation there was enough perspiration visible on the man's brow to tell that Xander's performance was having some kind of effect on him.

"So what shall it be? Information or pain Landscape?" Xander asked in a way that implied he hoped it was the latter rather than the former.

"Y-you're n-not gonna g-get anythin' f-from me!" Landscape replied trying to sound defiant but failing miserably.

Banishing his armor to where ever it went when he wasn't using it he looked at his target with bloodlust in his eyes and a disturbing smile on his face.

"Perhaps. Still I think I'll give you some time to contemplate the situation you're stuck in." Xander said in a way that indicated 'I am patient, I can wait before I torture you' was what he wanted to say, "Maybe by then you'll see that it is in your best interests to see things my way."

Standing up straighter he turned to Rogue and said "Let's get going and see if we can find the others. There's no telling whether or not Paint-can-man is alone down here or if he has friends."

With that he began to walk past Rogue and Joseph as he figured that it would pretty much kill his 'I can kill you at anytime' strategy if he followed rather than led the others along. True it was a tad presumptuous but he figured he could apologize for his behavior after Paint-boy cracked and spilled the beans.

**_One Hour Later, Underground Cave System, Deathbird's Perspective_**

_The more I see of the boy's behavior the more I am certain that he is cut from a different cloth than his friends the X-Men._ Cal'Syee Neramani thought to herself as she walked along in a position behind and to the right of the 'boy' in question.

It had been an hour since Xander had used some 'decent' intimidation methods to try and 'convince' the terran mutant called Landscape to divulge the reason for the holographic deception. While she could certainly devise some more 'productive' methods of interrogation the odd human did fairly good for a beginner. She could smell the fear coming off of the enemy mutant and she knew that Xander's tactics had made an impression. Even the terran's decision to 'give Landscape time to think' was wise as the holo-mutant's fear seemed to be increasing as time went by instead of decreasing. Of course that might have something to do with the music that the young terran hummed every once in awhile as Landscape's fear seemed to spike around that time. She didn't know what the music was nor what significance it had for the Earthlings but it apparently was somewhat humorous given the way Rogue had to cover her mouth to hide her amusement. She resisted the urge to ask what was so funny as it would likely only harm the image she wished to convey to all those around her. After all she was Deathbird, a Regent of the Shi'ar Empire and sister to the Majestrix herself. Never mind the fact that she was also heralded as being one of if not the most dangerous warrior in the Empire. With a reputation like that it would be unbecoming of her to ask a question to which everyone else in the group apparently knew the answer to.

It was after what had to have been the one hundredth time the young terran man had hummed his song that Landscape cracked slightly and apparently decided to fight his fear by engaging in fearful prattling.

"Right, then – this had been real fun! Honest. You come down here, you beat me up, everybody has a good laugh. But I really have to get going." Landscape prattled from where Rogue was carrying him in an iron grip wrapped around both arms, "I ain't one of you rugged save the world and free the whales types, like you X-Men. Nope, not me. I gotta work for a living."

"Unless you intend to divulge our location and why this elaborate charade has been played it would be best if you silenced yourself." Joseph stated in a tone that warned of harsh reprisals if Landscape didn't do as recommended, "We do not take kindly to being taken for fools. A pity that you're not paid by the word."

"Don't I wish, pinhead. No, sirree! Not me. I'm a bona fide card-carrying bounty hunter!" Landscape stated picking up his prattling immediately after Joseph stopped speaking, "Not that they, like, give out cards, for that sort of thing but if they did, I'd get one!"

"Do you ever shut up?" Rogue asked with a snarl all her own as she was becoming as irritated as the rest of the group at the moron's whining voice.

"I can think of one way to get him to shut up but it would also make it impossible for him to ever talk again or even taste food." Xander stated as he looked back at Landscape with a smile that was completely predatory.

"I wouldn't worry about him not being able to speak terran." Deathbird said with a feral smile all her own, "As long as he has one good hand I'm sure he can write out the information we need."

"No way! You so much as touch me and I'll shut up but good! Shutting up is my second favorite thing to do." Landscape said fiercely likely in order to sound more convincing, "I'll shut up the instant we turn Gambit over to -- #whoops#!"

Well that helps us out a little. Xander thought to himself as he turned fully to look at Landscape who was now on the verge of being choked to death by Rogue, Apparently it's Gambit specifically that is the target of this charade rather than the X-Men as a whole.

"Did I say 'Gambit'? I meant 'Hamlet'." Landscape said quickly in an attempt to cover his slip up but it was clear from the look on Rogue's face she wasn't buying it one little bit.

"ENOUGH! What do ya know about Gambit?" Rogue asked with anger, "How'd we get here? Who do you work for, Landscape?"

"He don't know nuthin', chere." Came a familiar voice from ahead of them, "Brett dere is low on de totem Rogue. In dis line of work, de less someone knows, de better off dey are. Dat's why it's better if you guys don't start asking too many questions."

Looking at the source of the voice just about everyone was surprised to see Gambit strolling up to them with his hands tied behind his back. The cause of his current predicament was right behind him in the form of a slightly pre-teen girl wearing a cave girl outfit with a spear pointed at the Cajun's head and a lizard the size of a rhino as well. Neither looked particularly friendly and the young girl was holding the spear with skill that belied her apparent age. It was clear that unless something happened to give Remy an opening the blonde girl held the winning hand in this little game.

"B-but … Remy. We can't just let them take you." Rogue said with some confusion at her kinda-boyfriend's recommendation to not concern themselves to much with him.

"Trust me, chere. I ain't goin' nowhere dat I ain't supposed to." Gambit stated with a confidence that made it clear he had things well in hand.

"As if you have any say in the matter." The young girl said condescendingly as the very thought that anything could happen without her permission.

When the Cajun dropped down and sweeped her legs out from under her though it became clear that perhaps the spear gal might not be as in control as she had previously thought.

"You'd be surprised woman. It don't take a genius to know why you've been hired." Gambit said as he somehow managed to cut through the ropes binding his hands, "But if I'm bein' brought in it's on my terms! We all clear on dat li'l detail?"

To emphasize his point Gambit produced a dagger from somewhere and held it at the throat of the giant lizard. Judging from the way it was glowing it was a safe bet that the Cajun was infusing it with some of his own power increasing what it could cut through by quite a bit. Judging from the 'grrrr' the lizard produced it did not like the situation at all but knew it was stuck between a rock and a sharp blade.

"If not, dis dagger I 'propriated earlier is charged wit' enough bio-kinetic energy to cut through even your big-boned head." Gambit said as he looked the big lizard right in the eye, "See, I may be a 'dummy' Grovel but I'm de dummy dat beat your sorry li'l butts."

"Ah should have known we didn't have t'worry about you, sugah." Rogue said happily as she flew to Gambit's side, "After we.."

Gambit interrupted her at that point and said "The others. Beast and Bishop. Where are they?"

Just about everyone there including Rogue was surprised at the abrupt tone he took with someone he was supposed to be seriously in love with but most of them supposed it was just the seriousness of the situation more than anything else.

"We don't know yet." Rogue replied as neutrally as she could with only a little bit of hurt lacing her words at her love's current attitude, "We're searchin' for them, O' course."

"I wouldn't worry too much Gambit. Given how we've managed to run into half our party so quickly I think it's a safe bet that Beast and Bishop are somewhere nearby as well." Xander said speaking up and drawing the attention of the group towards him so as to prevent them from being tied up in the love-hate relationship that is Rogue and Gambit, "If we just keep looking around I'm sure we'll find them without any problems at all."

"Indeed. So I suggest you postpone your lover's quarrel for some other time X-Men." Deathbird said with her usual tone of pompous superiority, "We have more important matters to deal with than your fickle emotions."

Definitely need to teach her about the meaning of the word tact! Xander thought to himself as angry and potentially violent looks came over the faces of Rogue and Gambit.

It was at that point that the former Zeppo-turned-Dragon-King-avatar felt a spike of energy from one of the group and turned to see Joseph looking like he was ready to pummel Landscape into the ground. Little chunks of rock floated around the platinum blonde man and with the random leap of a bolt of electricity he did indeed look mighty intimidating.

"Whoa there, smiley – back off!" Landscape said with fear of the seemingly inevitable beating in his voice, "Pounding on me isn't gonna help anything."

"Perhaps not." Joseph said as he raised his right arm to grab the painter's nightmare of a mutant, "But you led us to Gambit – perhaps you can take us to the rest of our friends."

Before Landscape could say anything though there was a sudden 'ripple' feeling echoing outwards from the direction of the tunnels ahead of them. It had a decidedly disorienting effect on everyone as it messed with the five basic human senses and in some cases any extra senses that the mutants, humans and some aliens possessed. When it passed and everything returned to some semblance of normality Xander found himself looking at the oddest collection of beings he had ever seen that had most certainly not been occupying the tunnels in front of and behind them a few seconds ago. They looked like a cross between animals, cyborgs and man-animal things that defied classification entirely. The apparent leader of the group, if for no other reason than whoever had made her had put more work into her design than the others, was a femme robot dressed up like a French maid. Her features were only vaguely human and in the place of legs there was a single pipe or something extending down from her dress to a large spiked metal sphere. All in all it made him wonder about who had made her but all speculation ended for him when she spoke in a voice that was both sickenly sweet and malevolent at the same time.

"Sweetie-ums, you're home!" she/it said with synthesized joy that was almost believable, "And Nanny is going to make sure her sweet little Magneto never leaves her alone again. Ever."

It was in that moment between hearing the robot talk and making a decision that Xander began to take stock of the situation and the possible courses of action. There were at least twenty of the cybernetic organisms around them and all of them looked like they were quite deadly. They were underground inside a system of caves and tunnels that may or may not be stable about to get into a fight and just about all the good guys had powers guaranteed to shake these tunnels big time and affect structural integrity. Then there was this 'Nanny' robot who seemed to know Joseph and if that was the case then it was also possible that it knew the X-Men as well in which case it had to know that in an honest fight no cybernetic army stood a chance against them. That meant either the robot was monumentally stupid or it had the ultimate ace up its sleeve and knew it had already won. Granted whatever 'ace' it was it was probably only aimed at affecting mutants which meant that both he and Deathbird would likely remain unaffected by it. Still two against twenty with the others being more or less sitting ducks meant that there would almost certainly either be casualties or hostages within the first minute of battle. Since neither he nor Cal' were experts in how to get out of situations like this letting the X-Men get killed was unacceptable. That left letting themselves get captured with all the rest and hope that an opportunity for escape presented itself. All he had to do was subtly communicate to Deathbird what he had in mind and hope that she played along with his idea rather than charge the cyborg forces head on.

_That should be easy!_ Xander thought to himself sarcastically as he slowly moved in Cal's general direction.

**_Deathbird's Perspective, Same Time_**

_This is most irritating._ Deathbird thought as she looked at the scene laid out in front of her.

Her return to consciousness had been foul enough with the terran's sarcastic comment about where she was relative to him and it had chaotically skirted back and forth between better and worse ever since. It had gotten better when they had found the X-Men Rogue and Joseph since it meant that Xander's theory about the others being nearby had a some truth to it. Then it had gone to worse when the one person who might be able to shed some light on their present location turned out to be a complete fool with few if any uses. Surprisingly Xander had managed to make things better in a way she had not expected when he used methods she knew the X-Men would be against to try and force the mutant human 'Landscape' to talk. It hadn't been a brave front or a bluff as Rogue and Joseph had likely believed it had been. Her senses had not detected any lies in his voice or any change in his breathing patterns to indicate he was not telling the truth. He was truly willing to torture the bounty hunter for information and while some might have misconstrued his decision to 'give the mutant some time' as weakness she saw it as the smart tactic it was. After all why try drawing Landscape a picture of what was going to happen to him if he stayed silent when the weakling's own fears could do so better than anyone. It had been quite amusing to see the fool try and act brave with a look of fear so firmly plastered on his face. Then things had decided to get complicated when Gambit arrived with two more bounty hunters who seemed intent on collecting some kind of reward by taking LeBeau in. Apparently though they weren't the skilled professionals that they appeared to be since it took Gambit mere seconds to gain the upper hand. Then of course something else had to happen to send things spiraling back to bad and it manifested in the form of the robot Nanny and her cyborg soldiers.

_Good! A little exercise is just the thing I need to improve my disposition at this point._ Deathbird thought to herself as she prepared to dive into the group of cyborgs right in front of her in order to tear them apart.

Before she could do more than take a single step forward though a hand clamped down her left wrist. Turning to see who had the gall to place their hands on her she was slightly surprised to find that Xander had managed to get so close to her without attracting her attention. Her surprise quickly shifted into anger that he would dare place his hands on her and attempt to stop her from teaching these mechanical miscreants their place in the galaxy. She was about to tell him exactly what would happen to him if he did not unhand her immediately when she caught the look in his eyes. It was not the look of an X-Man who wanted to talk their way out of whatever trouble they had gotten themselves into. Nor was it the look of a coward who feared pain and did not have the backbone to face danger with eyes wide open. It was the look of a warrior who had a plan and would brook no interference from anyone. It was a look that had little effect on her as she had stared down more intimidating foes in her time but just the same it was enough to get her to pause a moment and consider what he might be up to. Once he seemed convinced that she was no longer going to attack he seemed to indicate that he wanted the two of them to move to the rear of the group. That would be the ideal move in order to not attract attention to themselves but aside from that she could deduce no other advantage it might give them. Nevertheless she did as he requested and together they watched the scene unfold in front of them.

"I used to think you had hearty fun as a thief, LeBeau" the sentient lizard said sarcastically, "but as an X-Man it seems, the fun never stops."

"Dat's one way of putting it, Grovel." Gambit said with decreased optimism concerning the outcome of the situation.

"Personally I see nothing remotely 'fun' about this experience. Our lives have not been our own since the moment we were transported into the heart of the Shi'ar Empire." Joseph stated as he floated in the air looking like he was ready to take on any challenger, "Our return to Earth here, wherever here might be has not been any more pleasant."

"Ah agree with Joseph, Remy." Rogue said coiled up in a crouch ready to unleash her formidable strength on the opposing forces, "This is not a good thing we're starin' at here, y'all."

_Typical X-Men! No taste for battle at all._ Deathbird thought as she heard their pessimistic pronouncements.

While she would admit to the odds not being in their favor in terms of numbers this was the exact same team that managed to foil the Phalanx invasion of the Shi'ar Empire. They had gone into battle against easily fifty enemies at any given moment and emerged triumphant just the same. No matter what advantage this army of monstrosities might have they were still no match for the combined might of here current comrades. So what was it that was destroying the X-Men's courage as well as cause Xander to obstruct her attempts to engage the enemy?

"Nanny?" Joseph suddenly blurted out with recognition in his voice.

"You know dat thing, mon ami – the one dat called you 'Magneto'?" Gambit asked with some suspicion in his voice, "Maybe you know a lot more than you're letting on, Joe."

"While you are aware that I have little access to my memories prior to my life as the man you call Joseph I confess, LeBeau, that I have the vaguest recollection of the entity which seems to shepherd the rest of these … monstrosities!" Joseph replied with a slightly tried patience at Gambit's latest attempt to expose the platinum blonde's 'amnesia' as a charade.

"Ta ta tah ah, Magneto. Name-calling is not very nice!" Nanny said in a scolding tone of synthesized voice, "Have you been away from home so long, you've forgotten your manners?"

"You mean the silver-haired guy used to live here?" asked the little girl bounty hunter.

"Oh, much much more than lived here. My proud little boy created the place!" Nanny replied with joy in her mechanical voice, "Welcome to the bottom of the world, X-Men … welcome to the lair of Magneto!"

"If that is indeed the case, 'Nanny' – then I will gladly use my mutant power of magnetism to tear this place apart!" Joseph growled with anger and a tangible field of electric blue energy began to form around him.

It was then that she began to perceive why Xander had chosen to hold her from battle. As if a button had been pressed the X-Men lost their powers with both Joseph and Rogue dropping from their airborne positions to the ground and the blade Gambit wielded no longer glowing with the energies the mutant had been charging it with. Somehow the mechanical monstrosities that surrounded them had managed to take away their powers rendering them no more powerful than the majority of Earth's population. Somehow Xander had known this was going to happen and decided that starting a battle they couldn't finish would result in unnecessary casualties. This both surprised and impressed her as she had not thought that such a sound tactical decision could come from someone so obviously lacking in discipline. However she was beginning to suspect that his obnoxious attitude and perceived lack of intelligence might actually be a cover for something else entirely. She held back a smile from her face as she began to realize that the puzzle named Xander was even more interesting than she had originally anticipated. Perhaps she would take him up on his offer to remain in Earth for awhile if only to learn more about him.

"Um, speakin' of mutant powers…" Gambit said as the X-Men finally began to appreciate the drastic change in the situation.

"What in the name of –" Joseph exclaimed as he reflexively began to rub his sore backside as he had landed on it from a significant height when his powers were stolen from him.

"I was just dis minute gonna tell you, mes amis … it seems she somehow has the ability to put a whammy on our mutant powers." Gambit declared as he strode as non-threateningly as possible to the center of the group.

"Still the master of the obvious – eh, Remy?" said the young female bounty hunter with exasperation at the Cajun's idiotic comment.

"But how is this possible?" Rogue asked as she got to her feet to face the approaching cybernetic army, "According to our records, when the X-Men were held captive by Nanny their powers were negated with neural-inhibitors implanted in their restraints!"

"Looks to me like de lady – or someone – did some serious upgrading." , Gambit stated as he raised his arms into the air in a universal sign of surrender, "So now, unless we all intend to do some serious bleedin' on de floor I'm for playin' along till we find out what's what."

"Oh that's no secret at all … my widdle Gamby baby." The robot Nanny said as the cyborgs restrained everyone in their metal grip, "It's nap time boys and girls."

For a moment Deathbird considered resisting the animal restraining her because being rendered unconscious as well as being taken to some unknown location was highly risky. There was no guarantee that they would awaken in a favorable situation or even awaken at all depending on what this 'Nanny' robot wanted with them. Still the fact that the machine wanted them alive, as evidenced by taking prisoners instead of killing them on the spot, indicated that there was a good chance of them being allowed to live for awhile longer. No doubt the thief Gambit suspected this as well and hoped for an opportunity for escape later. Hope as far as she was concerned was an illusion, a false light that others ran towards with the expectation that their hard work would be rewarded. Her life however made her focus on reality and the task at hand. She believed in what she could see, feel, touch and control rather than some abstract concept. If she allowed herself to be taken prisoner here she would be handing over control of her fate to someone else and that was the one thing she had promised herself long ago she would never do. Still Xander had managed to surprise her so far with his foresight and tactical thinking so even though it went against her usual way of doing things she would take a chance just this once.

_You had better not disappoint me terran!_ Deathbird aka Cal'Syee Neramani thought before a prick in her neck rendered her unconscious.

**_Unknown Amount of Time Later, Unknown Structure_**

**_  
_****_The Filchner Ice Shelf, The Weddell Sea, Antarctica _**

"I don't know what they put in the punch but I am definitely going to have to order some for myself." Xander muttered as he pushed himself into a sitting position as he returned to consciousness.

He managed to sit up but when he attempted to bring his arms in front of his eyes to begin inspecting himself for damage he found them restrained. It was only when he took notice of this that his mind registered the added weight around his forearms, neck and ankles. Shaking his head a moment to clear his head completely he opened his eyes to find his arms, legs and neck chained to the ground. While some might have been surprised and a little worried by this turn of events he just grinned slightly because for him this is exactly what he had expected. He had known from the moment that Nanny had shown up that whatever the junk heap wanted required that they be taken alive. Otherwise they would have just charged in lasers blazing as well as having triple the number of cybernetic troops present. Add to that the fact that he didn't think they had anything on their persons that was valuable enough to warrant the kind of actions Nanny took and that meant information was the objective. Either that or there was something else that Nanny wanted that required her to keep them alive and in relatively good condition. So he hadn't been worried that they would be knocked out only to never awaken again. The only thing that had worried him was that Cal's naturally aggressive personality would cause her to start a fight that would wind up with at least one of the group being seriously injured. Fortunately she had been willing to take a leap of faith and trust his judgment.

Repositioning his body so that he could sit more comfortably despite the chains he could see he was not alone in the steel room he had woken up in. The big lizard galled Grovel was sitting/laying comfortably on the floor and sitting next to his/its head was his partner. Further away lined up against the wall Gambit, Rogue and Deathbird with each of them in chains as well. Unfortunately aside from himself and Grovel it looked like the rest of them were still unconscious as a result of the tranquilizer or sedative Nanny's troops administered. It made sense when taking into consideration how potent the healing ability he got from Kung Lung was. It wouldn't have had any trouble flushing the substance from his system. Still it meant that until the others woke up he couldn't really much more than wait.

"So Grovel how about you tell me who put the contract out on Gambit?" Xander asked conversationally as he looked at the big green lizard, "After all it's not like we have anything better to do right now."

"It's none O' yourses business." Grovel replied snappily making it clear that he viewed the Zeppo as being someone closer to the enemy slot than a neutral party in his mind.

"Wrong. If this involves Gambit than it'll wind up involving the X-Men here and since they're my only ride home it involves me." Xander said calmly with no trace of negative emotions in response to Grovel's tone of voice, "Besides which if your employer was smart then I doubt he gave you accurate info anyway. After all if you give him Remy than the X-Men will come after you first and then go after him. Be a smart move on his part if he told you nothing more than a pack of lies. It would mean that even if Gambit's friends managed to get anything out of you it would just lead to a dead end or at worst a trap."

It was crap logic and Xander knew it but he was betting it sounded feasible enough to convince Grovel that it was the most likely scenario. Given that they had arrived in just the right place for Grovel and his partner to get their hands on Gambit and then Nanny coming by with just the right tools to capture him, Cal and the X-Men it was just too suspicious to be a coincidence. That and the fact that rule seven of the Scooby gang stated 'believe in catastrophes, not in coincidences' and he had to believe that everything was connected. That meant that if he wanted to figure out what was going on then he was going to have to learn as much as he could about the person who put the contract out on Gambit. Returning his attention to Grovel he was pleased to see that the large lizard seemed to believe in the theory that the info he had concerning his employer was worthless.

"The contract was put out on LeBeau a couple of months ago. Me an' Spat got interviewed for the job an' apparently the guy liked how angry Spat got when he told us what LeBeau had done." Grovel explained with some uncertainty as his eyes looked every once and awhile in the young girl, Spat's, direction, "We only met the guy once before we were dropped off here. He was human near as I could tell, dressed in red armor, and went by the name Erik the Red. Never heard of him before then."

So the guy behind this whole mess was a human, in appearance at least, who went by the name Erik the Red and apparently had info on some even in Gambit's past that was bad enough to make Grovel and Spat jump at the chance to turn him in. While he doubted the phrase 'honor among thieves' was always true Remy never struck him as the type that had a difficult time making friends among those he worked with on the job. So for these two bounty hunters to both know him, befriend him and then turn on him based on some new info then the info had to be pretty bad indeed. Add to that this 'Erik' person's ability to pluck a ship out of hyperspace or whatever the Shi'ar transport was in and direct it to this spot implied great power. With Nanny added to the mix and he would bet a week's supply of Twinkies that this Erik the Red was somehow connected to Magneto. Maybe he was a former minion? Perhaps a partner of Magneto's in some joint venture? In any case if Erik the Red was connected to Magneto then he very much doubted that his sole target in this was just Gambit. If that had been the case it would have been much simpler to just leave the others unconscious in the middle of the network of tunnels and just take Gambit. An even better course of action would have been to wait a few weeks until they were all back at home and then kidnap LeBeau sometime when he was in the city.

_No. Whatever this Erik the Red guy has planned he needs the X-Men or maybe these specific X-Men in order to pull it off._ Xander thought to himself before he asked, "He say anything about what he wanted Gambit for?"

"That's for us to know and you to figure out golden-eyes!" came the angry voice of Spat as he got to her feet and gave him a steely glare.

Looking back at Grovel the former Zeppo could tell he wouldn't be saying anything more on the subject now that his partner was awake to hear him spill the beans. That was slightly disappointing but he still had managed to learn more than enough to continue trying to figure out what was coming and how to deal with it. He knew his friends back in Sunnydale would be staring at him dumbfound at the idea of him deducing anything but thanks to the attributes he inherited from the soldier possession he had the foundation for a keen strategic mind. That also made him a little more proactive in dealing with whatever situation he was in resulting in gathering and analyzing any info that crossed his path. After all information can keep you from becoming demon chow and avert the current apocalypse. Still perhaps he should toss a few questions Spat's way if only to see what her reaction would be. She might not respond to his questions with words but her emotional responses could be quite informative.

"C'mon Spat! We're captured, we're in chains and the chances of you dragging LeBeau to your employer now are pretty slim." Xander said trying to do a passable half-strength imitation of Gambit's own silver tongue, "So what could possibly be the harm in tossing me a few facts?"

"I don't know what that jerk LeBeau may have told you about me but I've gotten out of tougher spots than this!" Spat yelled angrily as she began to fiddle with the restraints around her ankles, "Me and Grovel will get out of here no problem and then collect that big fat reward for him just you wait and see!"

"How?" Xander asked knowing that she didn't have a clue as to how she was going to escape from here with Gambit and Grovel.

"Youse don't have a plan do you?" Grovel asked smugly as he too seemed to know when his partner was without a plan.

"Shut up partner! I know I should have said 'No' to this job. 'Go away'. 'Not interested'." Spat ranted as she began to pace as best she could, "But I couldn't resist the thought of nailing his Cajun butt to the wall!"

"Don' mince words Spat." Came Remy's groggy voice as he began to regain consciousness, "Tell me how you really feel."

"Youse done?" Grovel asked Spat like he was asking her if she was done with the milk.

"Yes. Thanks. I just needed to vent." Spat replied as she moved closer to Gambit who was examining his restraints, "Now, I don't suppose the master lockpick can get us out of this mess he got us into?"

"Don't think I won't be tryin', petite." Remy replied as he continued to poke and twist to examine every inch of his restraints, "But apparently, Nanny learned from her experience with my good friend Stormy from de last time de X-Men were captives here."

"Makes sense. Still I'd like to know who did the upgrades in the first place." Xander said as he added another bit of info to his 'what do we know' pile, "After all if Joseph is Magneto de-aged with amnesia then who'd know enough about Nanny and this place to upgrade everything?"

Gambit was about to answer when suddenly a growl echoed through the room. It wasn't an actual animal growl but rather it sounded like someone's best attempt to imitate a growl. Given who was in the room there were a limited number of suspects who could have done it. Deathbird was one but he figured she'd voice her displeasure at the current situation with a tad more articulation than a growl. That meant Rogue and when he looked over at the Southern Belle he saw that LeBeau was already at her side trying to comfort her.

"Chere…? Are you all right?" Gambit asked as he reached over to hold Rogue's hand.

"…I…" was the only reply Rogue could offer the Cajun.

"Not to worry, Rogue. If you and I are here with Xander and Deathbird, chances are Beast and Bishop landed somewhere near--." Gambit said in an attempt to reassure her as he plunked himself down on the floor to her right.

"Off." Demanded Rogue in a voice barely above a whisper and in a tone that seemed so unlike her.

"Pardon?" Gambit asked with surprise as he too seemed taken aback by the tone in the voice of the woman he clearly loved.

"I said take yer filthy hands off me, punk! Essex paid ya big time to do yer job, and ya did it!" Rogue yelled as she glared at Remy with yellow cat eyes, cat teeth and a look that spoke of a bloodthirsty rage, "Now BACK OFF, or so help me, yer guts are gonna be hangin' all over these TUNNEL WALLS!"

This new twist certainly tossed the Zeppo for a loop but looking at Gambit's face it had hit the Cajun with the force of a sledgehammer to the back of the head. Something, whether it was the Southern girl's altered appearance or the words that had come from her mouth so full of hate, anger and a thirst for blood. He was about to ask LeBeau what was going on but just in time Rogue seemed to shift back to normal as the cat attributes disappeared and her eyes took on a much more sane look to them.

"Sorry , Remy. With my powers negated … ah think memories ah absorbed in the past – that I thought had faded – are swimming to the surface." Rogue said with a little bit of disorientation in her voice, "Did … ah say anything strange just now?"

"No, chere. Nothin' you need t'worry about." Gambit replied as he sent a covert glare at Xander telling the former Zeppo to keep what he had heard to himself, "Nothin' at all."

"Yeah Stripes! I think it was something in German but then again it could have been Russian for all I know." Xander said as he decided to follow Remy's course of action for the time being, "I never was too good at languages back in high school."

Gambit gave a small grin of thanks before returning to consoling Rogue and helping her through what had to be a disorienting experience. While not having anywhere near as many minds residing in his head as Rogue likely did he knew what it was like to suddenly manifest mannerisms and remember things that he never did. Being possessed by both the primal Hyena spirit and The Soldier had left a lot of clutter in his mind after they left and he still occasionally found himself falling into routines that belonged to one of them rather than Xander Harris high school student slash slayerette. To have as many as fifty residual minds floating around inside a single person's head and to currently have no means for keeping them from taking control had to be horrible indeed.

Looking away he decided to give the two lovebirds as much privacy as he could manage while being in the same room with them. Deathbird was still unconscious, or at least looked like she was still in la-la land, so that left him without a co-operative person to converse with and hash out what was going on. If Gambit was telling the truth about Nanny improving the design of the restraints so that no one could pick the locks as a response to another X-Man's stay here years ago then that was another vote for a member of Magneto's group being responsible for all of this. After all it was unlikely that any records or video recordings survived the chaos when a previous X-Men roster broke out of here as collateral damage and super-being battles kind of went hand in hand. That meant that it had to be someone who had actually been present at the time of the capture, imprisonment and eventual escape of the previous X-Men team. Add that to the info he had already and it meant that this whole adventure had been planned from the moment the Shi'ar stargate collapsed to their capture by Nanny.

_Whoever did this has to have some seriously high tech or a mutant power on a level I don't even want to think about._ Xander thought to himself as he began to think about his ace in the hole for getting them out of here if it became necessary.

With a plan that was looking more and more like it had been planned to the point of being anal retentive about it he wasn't sure it would be a good idea for him to hold back for much longer. After all once he played his trump card he had to make sure it would succeed in getting them out of there or he could be certain that their captor would either kill him or make sure he couldn't pull the same trick twice. Looking over at Deathbird he could see that unless she was a very good actress she was still out like a light which meant that he'd be all alone against whatever security systems switched on when he broke loose. With Rogue and Gambit no more powerful than any other human and no clue where Joseph was it would be even worse than before when they had been captured by Nanny in the first place. He let out a sigh as he tallied the pros and cons of the current situation and found that things had gotten worse rather than better as he had hoped it would. Still he had faith that the universal constant of a villain's 'gloat session' would kick in sooner or later and then he maybe he could turn the tide in their favor.

As he turned to see if there had been any change in Cal's condition his sensitive ears picked up a hissing sound that was growing in volume within the room. Looking around he could see that the others had picked up on the sound about five seconds after he had first heard it and were searching the room as well. It took him less than a minute to see the barely visible gas being blown into the room via the air ducts and when the fatigue began to flow over his mind he knew what the gas was for.

_Looks like it's nap time!_ Xander said as he laid back carefully on the floor, _Hope I get a better dream this time around because I don't ever want to experience what it might be like to be Deathbird's dog again!_

**_Late Evening (Presumably), Underground Dungeon_**

**_  
_****_Presumably the Same Geographical Location_**

_That terran is going to pay for this!_ Was the first thought to cross Deathbird's mind as reached the home stretch towards consciousness.

The Regent of the Shi'ar Empire and ruler of the former Kree home world of Hela was not in a good mood to say the least. Most of this foul mood could be attributed to the fact that she didn't know what the situation was but the rest could be her reduced confidence that Xander knew what he was doing. She had been calculatingly optimistic at first when his suspicion that the robot Nanny had something to ensure her victory from the beginning. Now however as she felt weak and disoriented in what was likely a prison cell of some kind she was beginning to believe she had given the human too much credit. Unless he had a very good explanation waiting for her when she finally shook off the last of the lethargy in her system she was going to take matters into her own hands. It was as she finally felt sufficient strength return to her body to allow her to open her eyes that she noticed something odd about the position her body was in. She was laying on her right side but instead of her head resting on a cold stone floor or an odorous soiled pillow she found that it instead seemed to be resting on something decidedly warmer and more comfortable. As more sensory input returned to her the level of confusion in her rose as she could feel whatever her head was resting on rising and falling slightly in a predictable pattern. This was bizarre to her until the feeling in her arms faded back to a level just below normalness and her sense of touch enlightened her to the basic shape of the object her head rested on. With this information her mind managed to piece together an image of what her head rested upon and it caused the lethargy she had been feeling to vanish as her eyes shot open and she looked at her 'pillow'.

It was the terran Xander.

Quickly sitting up she quickly extricated her body from him and then did the first thing that came into her mind.

She slashed lashed out with her sharp talons and cut four gashes into his cheek causing him to awaken from his slumber as well reflexively holding a hand to his injured cheek and moving away from the perceived source of the attack.

"What the hell was that for!" Xander yelled with a mix of anger and pain as he brought his hand away from his cheek for a minute to determine how bad the bleeding was before putting it back and looking at her angrily.

Not wanting to admit that she may have acted hastily she replied "For daring to touch me in such a foul manner without my expressed permission terran! How dare you take advantage of my unconscious state to satiate your primitive impulses and desires!"

"Primitive impulses and desires! The Aerie might be light years ahead of Earth in terms of technology Cal'Syee but your impulses and desires are every bit as primitive as mine!" Xander yelled back as he dropped his hand from his cheek to reveal that the bleeding had already stopped, "As for you being wrapped around me I didn't put us together! I woke up like that! The only reason why I didn't move to someplace more neutral was because you are apparently very clingy when you're asleep!"

"Preposturous! As if I would ever 'cling' to a lowly human like you!" Deathbird said with anger in order to cover up her inner shock and surprise.

"Yeah right! Denial isn't just a river in Egypt you know!" Xander said sarcastically as he stood up and walked as far as the chain around his neck would allow him to go.

_Idiotic fool! I would never willingly wish to remain in such an … intimate … position with such a primitive being!_ Deathbird thought to herself as she stood and walked in the opposite direction Xander had gone.

She hadn't clung to anyone like that since … since those times! It had been so long ago that she had almost forgotten those moments and not a day went by that she didn't wish she could forget them. They were memories of warmth, of love, of a safety and security that most humanoids would find pleasure in reliving but for her she wished nothing more than to obliterate them from her mind. It was memories and emotions like those that were her enemy, weakened her resolve, in her struggle to reclaim all that had been taken from her. Only her hatred, her pride, her ruthless determination would aide her in one day reclaiming the Shi'ar throne from her naïve little sister and ruling the Empire as she should have all along. To think that that human had the gall to imply that it was her desire to cling to him that had kept him from removing his body from her person was ridiculous. For that to be even close to being true she would have had to feel safe with him and due to the life she led she knew that a warrior was never safe be it among comrades or enemies. Constant vigilance and general mistrust were the two weapons that no true warrior even put down and it was those two things that had helped her gain as well as keep what she had in her possession at this point in her life.

_Stop it! Any further thought on such an idiotic subject is foolish!_ She thought to herself as she shifted her attention to her surroundings, _Focus on the problems at hand and consider retribution on the terran for his words later!_

Passing her eyes over everything in range she saw that they were in a dungeon of some kind with each of them restrained by chained collars fastened around their necks. The chains were attached to metal poles about halfway between the edge of a cliff and dark caves that were apparently meant to be their rooms as there was one for each prisoner. These poles were also the only light in the room but she was mystified as to how it was that the metal was managing to produce light. The lizard called Grovel was asleep on the far side while the X-Man Rogue was testing the strength of the chain that bound her to the pole and the blonde human bounty hunter tried to dig the pole itself out of the ground. Neither of them seemed to be having any luck in their efforts but seemed to be continuing if for no other reason than to keep their minds occupied. The mutant Gambit had apparently decided to retire for the night as the chain she presumed belonged to him led into his 'room' between Rogue's and the bounty hunter's room. There was no sign of the platinum haired mutant named Joseph. While she considered this odd she did not overly concern herself with it since all of the X-Men were useless so long as their mutant powers were gone. To her knowledge only she and Xander might still possess their unique abilities and … that …

_That's it! That is why Xander held me back when those cybernetic weaklings surrounded us!_ She thought with some energy as the events since awaking on Earth began to make sense, _Very clever!_

It was indeed an advantage worth keeping secret for the moment and as she placed this discovered tactic in with all the other events she could recall she could also see other ways it could aid them. As her mind began to conceive of ways this could be used to achieve victory over their captor she began to think that she might have to apologize to the terran for cutting him earlier. After all he was proving to be more and more adequate a warrior than she had originally thought. It made her wonder more than before where he could have learned the skills he had learned as well as how he had learned them. However she quickly dismissed the idea of admitting to him that she had made a mistake and instead decided that she would make up for her rash action by placing more stock in his recommendations. If they continued to be of such high quality as the ones that came before she would be a fool to disregard them.

It was with thoughts like these that she continued to make her plans for escaping this imprisonment and making the one responsible pay for treating her in this manner. Thoughts of the terran warrior Xander almost never entered her mind for the rest of the night until she voluntarily went to sleep.

Almost.


	10. The Great Escape

Two Hours Later, Xander's Perspective 

_Well that was certainly an interesting little drama!_ Xander thought to himself as he watched Gambit try and get as far away from Rogue as his chain would allow.

For the last little while he had been quietly observing the interactions between Rogue and Remy and the more he saw the more he was certain the Cajun had some secret that he was desperate to keep hidden from the woman he loved. It wasn't like he had slept with another woman and didn't want Rogue to find out he had been two timing her but rather some secret that caused him to slip into guilt ridden brooding sessions. Given what the past of the only other brooder he knew was it did not bode well for what Gambit was trying to keep hidden. After all Angel had done some pretty horrible things when his soul was not in his body and any single one of those acts would be enough to cause most people to contemplate suicide rather than deal with the guilt. If Remy had done something like that in the past then it was easy to understand why he wanted to keep it buried rather than come clean to the woman he loved.

_I bet a month's supply of Twinkies that that secret is what got Spat and Grovel to sign on to the contract on Gambit._ He thought to himself as he turned to the single torch that had been placed close to him by their captors.

That likely meant that whoever their employer was he not only knew about the secret but also had some connection to it, a personal one. More than likely then this whole situation was about revenge rather than simply seeing the guilty party punished like one would expect from the official authorities. The fact that they were all being carted to this person together rather than just Gambit also supported this hypothesis since they'd either be the witnesses to the Cajun's demise or be used to cause him pain. What other uses could friends and loved ones of the accused have to someone who wanted to punish the guilty party outside of officially recognized courts? Unfortunately since he did not know what methods this unknown employer intended to use to punish Gambit he couldn't afford to hold back for much longer. For all he knew this unknown guy intended to line them all up in front of Remy and blow their brains out or something equally permanent. Still he would wait until he had a better feel for his enemy's next hand before putting a play of his own into action.

"What are you thinking human?" came a voice he had hoped would remain silent for the remainder of this adventure.

Turning his head in the direction of the voice he looked and saw Deathbird approaching him with a suspicious look on her face and he knew she'd likely not stop poking him with the proverbial stick until he answered her questions somewhat.

"I was just thinking that things will be coming up to the big finale soon and that I'd better come up with a plan sooner rather than later." He replied as he returned his gaze to the fire in front of him as though it would tell him what he needed to know.

He hoped she'd be able to figure out that he was really saying 'it might be time to use our trump card soon' rather than the obvious. While he didn't know for certain he figured it was a safe bet that she now knew the reason why he held her back before was to keep the two of them and their very much active powers secret from the enemy. The longer the enemy thought that he and Deathbird were nothing more than two more mutants helpless under the thrall of whatever device had stolen the X-Men's powers the better. It would give the two of them time to do a little covert reconnaissance on the enemy as well as give them one helluva ace in the hole to play should things get 'complicated' for everyone. Timing would be crucial since he hadn't quite pinned down where exactly the devices were that currently blocked the mutant powers of the others. He just had to hope that either the big man himself would show up to gloat or that he would be able to discern the location of the devices before it was too late.

"Indeed, I discerned this also." Cal'Syee stated as she briefly looked over to where Rogue and Spat were talking before asking, "Any thoughts on who has orchestrated this entire mess?"

"Only that they're connected to the mutant Magneto and that Gambit is at the center of it all." He replied while being careful to spill everything he knew, "Whoever arranged all of this wants to deliver some serious payback to the Cajun and decided it would be fun to drag the rest of us along for the ride."

The Shi'ar Aerie woman nodded at this confirming that she had come to a similar conclusion on her own. Not that this surprised him all that much. After all with all the work that probably went into coup de tats and 'overthrow your sister' plots she would definitely be smart enough to see the writing on the wall.

"In any case someone looking for revenge isn't going to be all that patient about dishing it out now that he has who he wants." Xander said as the wheels continued to spin in his head, "So if we're going to do anything to free ourselves and get out of here it'd better be sooner rather than later."

Before Cal' could say anything more the metal door that Nanny had used since he had woken up to check on them periodically was knocked clean off of its hinges. Jumping to his feet he turned to see a seriously disheveled Joseph holding onto the doorframe for support with one hand while maintaining a firm grip on the body of some robo-guard with the other.

"ENOUGH! There is no time for whatever drama in which you've entangled yourselves!" he declared with authority as he looked at them all, "I have learned that Operation: Zero Tolerance has launched a full-scale offensive against our mutant comrades. It is incumbent upon us to free ourselves and go to their aid!"

"Good plan, mon ami." Gambit said with no little sarcasm, "But, ummmmm… how did you break free and get here through several levels of your old base?"

"How do you think I did?" Joseph asked incredulously before his eyes narrowed in anger, "What are you implying?"

"Joseph has proven him—" Rogue began to say in defense of the platinum blonde before she caught sight of what Xander had three moments earlier, "You popped the chains Remy? We could have left any time?"

"And? So?" Gambit replied as if his reasons for remaining chained were obvious, "We didn't have a plan before."

With those words the Cajun began to pop the chains on the rest of them until it was only the two bounty hunters who were still restrained. To the surprise of almost everyone he didn't even pause as he went over to Spat and began to work on the chain around her right ankle.

"Leave these bounty hunters here, Gambit." Joseph commanded with impatience, "We have no time to waste!"

"Yeah, I'm gonna leave 'em to Nanny, abandon them in the middle of the Antarctic." Gambit said in perfect deadpan form as he continued to work on the chain around the young girl/woman's ankle, "Right."

It took a couple of minutes but eventually both Spat and Grovel were free of their restraints. Once that little nuisance was out of the way it was time to get the hell out of dodge before Miss Iron Skirt got wise to the change in the status quo.

&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&

One Hour Later, The Network of Underground Caverns 

"Not too quietly here, huh?" Grovel said in obviously impatient reference to the slow and methodical pace the group had been going at since their escape.

It had been about an hour since they had been freed of their restraints and since then it had been a slow creeping escape from the lair of Magneto and into the network of tunnels they had originally been caught in. While Xander could sympathize with how the slow movement on the group could grind on someone's last nerve but it was necessary if they hoped to evade Nanny and her cybernetic attack dogs. While he still had the trump card of him and Deathbird still having their powers it wouldn't mean squat if they got surrounded again like last time. If that happened both he and Cal' would be right back where they had started from with either a bloody defeat or a costly victory being the only possible outcomes. In a fight he and Deathbird would likely be able to get as good as they got and maybe even defeat Nanny but most of the X-Men would either be dead or seriously wounded. So like it or not the big lizard would have to suck it up and endure this snail like speed they were going at for the time being.

"What – you don't think they're just gonna let us leave?" Gambit said in an obviously rhetorical manner, "All we got to do is follow our savior here, and he'll—"

"All you have to do is shut up, LeBeau. Stay if you like, and wallow in self pity for whatever unspeakable crimes you've committed." Joseph said with his patience being worn thin by Gambit's implied suspicions about him, "I, for one, have grown tired of being manipulated by events beyond my control. That ends now."

"Ain't you bein' a little harsh Joseph?" Rogue asked with some displeasure at how the object of her affections was being spoken to.

"No." Joseph replied confident that he was justified in how he had spoken to the Cajun.

"You kids crack me up. Do you always get along this well?" Spat asked in an amused voice.

"NO," replied both Rogue and Joseph at the same time since both wanted to put an end to the bounty hunter's line of questioning.

_Well isn't this going to be a lovely trek back to civilization!_ Xander thought sarcastically has he imagined how the arguments and accusations would be like in another hour or two, _Now I know why Buffy and the others were always so quick to put a stop to the verbal sparring matches between me and Deadboy. _

Hopefully they would either soon either settled for glaring at each other or simply break each other's jaws because if it was indeed like this all the way back to civilization he was seriously going to need to exercise some anger management. He was about to try to be a mediator in order to get the three X-Men to behave civilly to one another when all of a sudden an explosion of light appeared in front of them causing all to cover their eyes. By the time the light had faded enough for them to open their eyes and look around a cloud of dust took on the job of obscuring their sight. Somehow though he didn't think they'd have to wait long to find out the cause of either obscuring phenomenon.

"Enough of this nonsense!" Joseph yelled as his last shred of patience was cut in two by the scene before him, "Step forth from the shadows and confront us directly!"

"My, my, my… how cranky you're sounding," came the sickeningly sweet yet mechanical voice of Nanny from within the dust cloud, "Maybe it's time I put you all down for a nap. A final nap."

"Outnumbered and overpowered." Gambit said in annoyance of the hand fate had dealt them, "Dis is exactly de situation I was hopin' to avoid. We shouldn't have left de cell until we knew what was goin' on here."

_Maybe Remy but at least you have two aces up your sleeve now and one of them is just itching to be played._ Xander thought to himself with a barely concealed grin.

It looked like that instead of simply being screwed over by the higher powers they had simply decided to give him a trade off instead. As his covert surveying of the surrounding area told him that the robo-guards were only in front of the group with Nanny in front. This was a completely favorable situation for him since the bad guys putting themselves into one neat little group was exactly what he had been hoping for. Now all he needed to do was get to the front of the group and wait for things to go to hell before he sent Miss Tin Head to the scrap heap with all her little friends.

"I've tried to be nice." Nanny said in a tone best reserved for scolding parents, "And kind. And patient. But you wanted to play. As of this moment play time is over."

With those words the formally maid looking Nanny began to transform like the toys he used to play with as a kid until gone was the comforting (kinda) image of a house servant and all that was left was something you'd see on one of those homemade robot battle tournament things. Guns, spikes, blunt objects and lasers galore sprouted from the robot's body and it looked like each of them were exceptionally good at killing things. Truthfully he was almost amused by it all since it seemed like something you'd see in a Saturday morning cartoon show rather than reality. Then again given what he and the Scoobies dealt with on a regular basis he supposed they probably looked like something straight out of a prime time TV show. In any case though it looked like it was time for him to let the cat out of the bad and let it tear these robots to shreds.

"Well you're right about playtime being over you Star Wars droid reject!" he said as he finally reached the front of the group, "Only it's not us it's over for this time. It's you!"

With no warning and almost no preparation time he opened his mouth wide and unleashed a horizontal column of black fire that just came half a foot short of scraping the tunnel walls. He didn't let it go for long, maybe three seconds, since he was not wearing his armor and when he finally clamped down on Kung Lung's power all that was left of the robot forces were tiny pieces of scrap metal that looked like they'd crumble to dust at any second. With the threat eliminated and his friends safe he closed his eyes and focused his attention inwards to deal with the ground he had given up to the Dragon King by using one of the dark one's abilities. He could feel the essence of the being he had been charged to contain by those idiotic PTB's and he could perceive where it had spread over the last few seconds. Gathering up all his willpower and strength he 'pushed' against this black power and did his best to force it back in order to retake the ground he had lost in his body. It wasn't easy at all. He could feel the darkness resisting his efforts and trying to keep what it perceived belonged to it now. If he had to compare it to anything he would liken it to trying to budge Willow when she had the resolve face firmly attached.

Eventually though the essence of Kung Lung retreated and after some quick internal checking he was satisfied that things were once again as they should be. Opening his eyes he turned to face the X-men, Cal and the two bounty hunters who were looking at him as though they thought he might be a little cracked. Personally he wasn't sure they were all that far off the mark but he would deal with that mess later. Right now they had to make tracks before whoever was giving Nanny instructions adapted to the change in circumstances.

"Well now that robo-Poppins and her buddies are so much ash whatsay we get while the getting's good?" he asked in his usual casual upbeat manner.

"You alright Xander?" Rogue asked tentatively as she rose into the air cautiously.

Xander was a bit surprised at the fact that the X-Men seemed to have gotten their powers back but then figured it made sense that whoever was behind all of this would install the 'put-the-whammy-on-mutant-powers' device in Nanny.

"Don't worry Rogue. Going all dragony just takes a little bit out of me and I needed a moment to center myself." He replied hoping mentally that she would drop the subject, "At least that's what G-Man called what I did but I don't get it. Center what?"

"I believe, my confused comrade, that your friend was referring to the process by which one could seek balance in one's spirit via finding its 'center' of gravity." Came the voice of the walking Thesaurus he was beginning to think spoke that way just to confuse people, "Although I admit my theory might be flawed considering I don't know who this 'G-Man' is of course."

"Beast! Bishop!" cried Rogue as she flew over to the approaching X-Men coming from the tunnel Nanny and her robots had been blocking, "Where in Sam Hill have the two of you been?"

"We came too a little later than the rest of you did and only managed to catch up with you in time to see you get captured by Nanny." Bishop replied as he made a visual survey of the immediate area, "Our powers cut out about the same time as yours so the best we could do was follow and hope an opportunity presented itself for a rescue attempt."

"Indeed. We were about to attempt a most reckless rescue when Nanny cornered you a few moments ago when Bishop saw Xander preparing to unleash his attack and advised that we take cover." Beast said before looking around at the remains of the Cyber-Nanny and her horde, "Given what his black flame did to these cybernetic beings as well as Nanny herself I am imminently grateful I heeded his advice. However now that the current crisis his passed I must admit to some concern about the mechanical maiden's resurrection. If it was not Joseph who recreated her and outfitted her with the technology to subdue us then who was truly responsible and why were they after us?"

"Ah'm thinkin' there are more important questions that need t'be answered Hank." Rogue said as she approached Gambit from behind, "Matters that need t'be resolved once an' for all. Remy – please. What is it you've been hidin' from us all this time?"

"Dat – ain't a question no more, Rogue." Gambit replied in a voice that made it clear it was only by the thinnest of margins that he was able to force the words from his mouth.

"You'll tell… me?" Rogue asked both surprised and relieved that the secret might finally be revealed.

"I… I… can't" Remy replied before turning away from the Southern Belle and began walking towards Spat and Grovel, "But… I can't keep hidin' either. I'm through with runnin' from my past. I'm tired of goin' to sleep with my shame only to discover it's still dere when I wake up."

"Yer turning yerself in, LeBeau?" Grovel asked in surprise.

"Actually, I'm turning myself over to de truth. I hope, someday, you'll be able to forgive me, chere because I know I never will." Gambit said as he allowed his hands to be bound by Spat.

With those words of guilt all the X-Men could do was watch as one of their teammates walked away from them like a man awaiting execution. They just stood there, some with mouths agape in shock, unable to understand why a man who defied authority and was so carefree was suddenly surrendering himself for punishment. Xander and Deathbird on the other hand just watched with observant eyes as yet another piece of the puzzle that was this entire adventure was presented to them. For the Zeppo Remy's actions spoke volumes about just how big a crime the Cajun had committed as well as how much it would affect the X-Men. He knew that no matter what Rogue and the others would pursue their friend whether it was to save him from his own guilt or find out what the big secret was in the first place. Xander also knew that whoever was pulling all their strings from behind the scenes was likely counting on the X-Men taking this course of action as well. While he might still be a bit blurry on the details he knew that something big and bad was on the horizon for the X-Men. Whatever this unseen puppeteer wanted it would not be of the good and the only two people who might be able to deal with it were him and Cal'Syee Neramani.

_Nice to know the situation isn't completely hopeless!_ Xander thought sarcastically as he wondered how in the hell these things kept on happening to him.


	11. Changes and Discoveries

Snowy Plains of Antarctica, Two and a Half Hours Later 

_What a great feeling this is!_ Xander thought as he sat in a lotus position trying to figure out how best to handle the trap they were skipping gleefully into, _We're traveling in a craft pieced together from a wrecked Shi'ar star cruiser, going at a lethal rate of speed and the engine sounds like it could give out or blow up at any moment! _

Trying his best to reign in his emotions he opened his eyes to look about and see how the rest of the gang was doing. He wasn't sure when he started referring to them as 'the gang' and not 'the X-Men' but it felt right so he didn't bother to correct himself. At the 'controls' in the front of the craft stood Bishop and Beast, who were both trying to navigate the various snowdrifts and rocky outcroppings that popped up in their path. Judging from the number of close calls and hundred dollar words McCoy was using every once in a while, the vehicle couldn't stop on a manhole cover much less a dime. That fact made him give out sigh of relief every time they managed to avoid a head on collision with some part of the landscape and curse their luck at the same time. Personally he would have preferred waiting until Beast could assure them of the 'snow skimmer's' safety before getting underway but the Southern Belle standing outside on one of the struts wouldn't or couldn't wait for that. Ever since Gambit had willingly given himself up to the two bounty hunters Spat and Grovel, she had become more and more impatient as well as irritable. Not that he could blame her given how she felt about the Cajun but he just wished that she would take some more time to think things through. After all they couldn't rescue Remy if they wound up getting killed trying to catch up with him and his captors.

Joseph was standing at the center of the craft doing his best to keep the haphazard pieces that the vehicle was composed of together while also offering them all some protection from the elements. Not that it was doing much good judging from the fact that he could see his breath but considering how cold it tended to get in this part of the world it was better than nothing. The man formerly known as Magneto seemed to be treating this as another day at the office on the outside but from subtle signs on his face the Zeppo-turned-avatar could tell something painful was brewing inside the white-haired Fabio. Still, he had nothing but his hunches to go on so he'd keep his mouth shut and hope that the guy would have the smarts to ask for help if he wasn't feeling well.

As for the last member of their party, she was at the back of the ship leaning up against a wall and giving all of them the 'I will gut you for making me endure this' look. Oh she looked like she was fine with everything, but he could tell from her posture and what he remembered about Shi'ar physiology that the bird lady was probably hating the cold weather. After all, on good ol' Earth most birds flew to warmer climates when winter set in, and while he was just jumping to conclusions that the Shi'ar acted anything like Earth birds he was confident enough in his position not to change it. In any case it meant she was in a foul mood and he was not about to tempt fate by going over to her and trying to cheer her up. She was mad at him for enough reasons already and he didn't want to add to that list unless he absolutely had to, and even then he'd be reluctant.

All in all he had a feeling that the sooner they got Remy and got back to civilization, the better off they'd all be both physically and emotionally. He had his armor on at the moment since it took a little of the edge off the cold that Joseph wasn't able to keep out of the craft. He'd take it off once they arrived at their destination in order to keep it as a trump card against their mysterious host but at the moment it was just a winter coat substitute as far as he was concerned.

_Why-o-why did this baddie have to have his pull us to Antarctica of all places?_ He thought as he fought off a shiver, _Why no the Bahamas or maybe Mexico? At least then I might be able to enjoy myself._

This wasn't the first time he complained about the temperature and their overall location but at least this time he had managed to turn it into something productive. The more he thought about it the more he believed that whoever was orchestrating events had something to do with Magneto or, more specifically, Magneto's resources. First there was the location, which was bitter and inhospitable which he believed no villain mutant, demon or human would willingly subject themselves to when there were much better places available. The only benefit this location provided was isolation from the rest of the world and while that might help ensure that no one escaped he didn't believe imprisonment was the mastermind's goal. If that had been what he/she/it had wanted then he very much doubted that he and the X-Men would have been able to make it out of their chains much less past Nanny. After all, whoever was behind all this obviously had access to some seriously wicked tech and that meant that, if they had really wanted to, they could have had them so locked up that not even the X-Men with their powers could have broken out. That meant that the architect of this scenario wanted them to break out, wanted Gambit brought to him, and then come to another location where he/she/it would be waiting.

The second was the whole fact that whoever was behind all of this seemed to be specifically using tech and structures linked to Magneto. After all there was Nanny, the base they had been held in, the mutant power suppression technology and the cybernetic minions had Magneto's fingerprints all over them. While the cybernetic minions and mutant power suppression tech might not be exclusive to the Master of Magnetism Nanny and the base most certainly were. Add to that how much ground a group would have to cover to find it and it was infinitely more likely that this Erik the Red knew exactly where it was because he had been there before. He/She/It would also have to have a passing knowledge of the base's systems, structure and function in order to properly restore them. Not something someone who just stumbled over the base could have done without someone noticing.

Take those two factors into account, add a little Hellmouth paranoia, stir vigorously and you had one sinister plan in the works. A plan he was doing his best to figure out before it was too late to throw some kind of monkey wrench into the plans of this big bad.

"Rogue? You should come in. The temperature's falling out there, and you can survey for Gambit just as well from inside." Beast yelled in order to be heard by the skunk haired mutant over the noise of the protesting engines.

"Cold's no problem, Hank. Ah can see better out here." Rogue yelled back to the blue furred wonder without turning her head, "An' from the sounds 'n' smoke, there may not be an inside ta this craft for much longah."

_Have to agree with you on that one Stripes._ Xander thought to himself as a particularly bad 'bam' from the engines as it struggled to function, _I hope for all our sakes that when this thing finally does its swan song that we'll all be someplace else._

"Beast! Stop!" Rogue yells with some urgency.

"Stopping's no problem. In fact, with this piece of slapdash collapsing, we may have no other choice." Beast declares as he wrestles with the controls to try and bring the vehicle to a stop.

"It's still better than anything I could put together Hank so I'd say you outdid yourself this time." Xander said as he got to his feet and banished his armor.

"I know that, and you know that, but the ship doesn't know—" Beast began to say before a pain-filled groan grabbed everyone's attention by the scruff of their proverbial necks.

Turning to the source Xander saw that whatever had been bothering Joseph for the last while had gone from migraine to Mount Saint Helen's with the platinum blonde grasping his head in an attempt to deal with the pain.

"Joseph?" Bishop inquired as he took a step towards his comrade.

"Stop… please… immediately!" Joseph manages to ground out despite the pain he is feeling, "I feel… I feel…"

"Carsick?" Beast asks in perfect deadpan before helping the ailing mutant to his feet.

"No time for jokes, Beast." Rogue says as she steps just inside of the craft's entrance, "Something's up."

"Fine. Let Joseph out and go look around while we let these engines cool down." Hank stated, apparently a little mad that his attempt at humor was shot down.

"Don't have to tell me twice." Xander said as he beat a Joseph-carrying Beast out the door and into the wide-open space of the Antarctic.

_And I left the reasonable warmth of the indoors for the unshielded cold for what reason? _Xander asked himself immediately after he was hit with the first cold gust of wind that hit him, _Oh yeah! The all too real fear that said indoors would explosively become outdoors with me being spread all over those outdoors!_

Watching the hurting Joseph stagger off away from the skimmer, the former Zeppo had to wonder what exactly was causing the pain in the first place. After all this was the first real time since he had met the platinum wonder that Joseph appeared to be ill. Not that he thought that mutants couldn't get sick or anything, but medical problems, whether they were the common cold or a head ache, don't appear so suddenly without a cause. Hopefully some fresh air would do the magnetic mutant some good.

"As my grandfather said, 'You can always paint a cowpie a pretty color but it's still a cowpie when you're done'." Beast said as he examined the engines just in case it was an explosion in the making.

"He actually said that?" Rogue asked with genuine interest.

"Basically, though his language was a tad more… colorful." Beast replied with a slight grimace at the messy state the engines were in.

Xander had to smile at that. Much like himself, Hank did his best to inject some humor even in the worst of situations. It was kind of necessary because otherwise everyone would get all broody like a certain corpse he knew and that could not be allowed.

"NNAAAAHH!" Joseph bellowed as he dropped to his knees in pain, "He's…here…" 

This got everyone over to the young Master of Magnetism in a big hurry with Rogue reaching him first.

"Joseph! Who's here?" Rogue asked as she landed at the man's side, "What's the matter?"

"Pray he's not unconscious, Rogue." Beast said as he reached Stripes and Blondie, "He's all that stands between us and freezing to death out here."

Without everyone together grouped around the suffering mutant it was anyone's guess what was wrong with him or how he could be helped. In terms of medical gear they were toast and, depending on how serious the problem was, his only chance of survival would be if Rogue could fly them all back to civilization.

Suddenly something seemed to catch the southern gal's attention and he had a sinking feeling that Joseph just got bumped out of the number one spot of Rogue's list of priorities.

"Oh mah gawd!" Rogue said in disbelief as she picked up a queen of hearts playing card out of the snow, "He is here! Ah don't know how Joseph knew it, but he's right! Remy's here. Ah gave him this card yesterday. He's here but where?"

As if to echo the super strong mutant's emotional state, the snow skimmer's engines decided that right then was the perfect time to blow up. By the time it had registered in everyone's mind it was clear that they would have to seek alternate means of transportation from this point on.

"Well, I guess we won't be putting Joseph back in the skimmer while Rogue searches for Gambit." Xander said conversationally in an attempt to downplay how bad this turn of events was for them.

"You truly have a startling grasp of the obvious, Terran." Deathbird spat out scathingly as her foul mood got worse with the destruction of their only way to civilization.

Choosing to ignore her for the time being, he turned to see if there had been any improvement in Joseph's condition; he was surprised to see that the man had managed to shakily get to one knee. Of course that surprise was quickly topped as in a surge of magnetic power the de-aged Magneto decided to pull off the impossible and raise an entire high tech structure from beneath the snow of the Antarctic. It was huge, easily as tall as the skyscrapers of Manhattan, and looked like something straight out of the Star Wars movies. It wasn't Shi'ar tech, based on his limited exposure to the devices of Cal's people, but it was definitely lightyears ahead of anything your average citizen could possibly know about. For Xander, though, it only added further weight to his belief that whomever was behind this entire drama was seriously powerful and also somehow connected to Magneto. After all, what are the odds that two bases in the Antarctic belong to two different people especially when Joseph, a de-aged Magneto, showed signs of being connected to them both?

_Makes you wonder if Gambit might be on to something with Joseph._ Xander thought as the snow stirred up by the raising of the structure finished settling.

"My stars and garters, Joe. What is that? And how'd you raise it?" Beast asked in obvious disbelief at what had happened.

"I… I don't know… either." Joseph replied as he shielded his eyes from the sun in order to get a better look at the structure, "What should we… do?"

"We're X-Men sugah. We charge right on into the unknown and save our own." Rogue replied as she began to match actions with her words, "Let's get goin'."

Forming a loose group, they all began to move towards the structure but both he and Deathbird purposely remained at the back of the group as they were likely the only two people who suspected that there was more going on then was readily perceivable.

"You sense it too, don't you terran?" Deathbird asked softly enough that only he would be able to hear her words.

"Yes. Even with his impressive power, Joseph couldn't have raised that structure entirely on his own." Xander replied as he tried to comprehend the ramifications of what he'd just witnessed, "Someone gave him a little help and chances are it's the same someone who is the mastermind behind everything we've been through since we set foot on Earth. 'Course the question then becomes: why did he reveal his hidden fortress to us?"

"Let us go and ask the cur personally." Deathbird stated in a way that made him worry for the well being of the person who would have to answer her questions. 

&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&

**_Thirty Minutes Later, Deep Within the Unknown Fortress_**

_This is getting tiresome!_ Deathbird thought as yet another door within the fortress opened to admit them entry to another room.

For the past half hour she had proceeded along with the X-Men and Xander to explore the inner chambers of the fortress that had been uncovered, aside from a few random trinkets nothing of value that had been found or any clues as to who was behind this game. She did not like the lack of knowledge she was being forced to work with, but the lack of an alternative plan forced her to remain with the mutant rabble in front of her. Xander seemed to be likewise 'irritated' with the lack of progress their covert investigation was making but was doing a superior job of concealing it from the others. As they were the only two to look beneath the surface for the truth of the situation, he likely knew as she did that it would be up to them and them alone to thwart the designs of the enemy. In this she was surprisingly calm, considering how foul things could become if matters took a turn for the worst before she could do anything to prevent it. She supposed it had to do with the fact that she was not alone in her efforts to discern the truth. Since she had first met him, he had proven himself to be a warrior more unto her kind then the sort commonly recruited by the X-Men. While still inferior to her in almost every way, the promise he held was great and so she would use this situation to show Xander how to properly deal with an adversary who liked to hide in the shadows.

As they entered the latest room of many she was pleased to find that this one was a little fuller than the others but with nothing impressive that she could see. In the middle of the room was a statue of a human female dressed in robes with a blindfold covering her eyes, a downward pointed sword in one hand and a primitive weighing device in the other.

"What is this place?" Rogue asked as she got a closer look at the statue, "An' who's she? Is this her fortress?"

"She's justice. Blind Justice, to be precise." Beast replied even though Rogue's question was likely rhetorical, "I thought this citadel might be some forgotten mystery of the Savage Land, but she's a far more northern concept."

"Well, whoever, owns this place, they've got Gambit, and ah want him back. Now." Rogue stated making it clear in no uncertain terms that she would settle for no other outcome than the safe return of her lover, "Let's split up and look around. If there's any trouble—"

"Given the sort of luck we've been running into lately Rogue, I'd say it's pretty much guaranteed that we'll run into trouble sooner or later." Xander stated making it clear what his thoughts were on them separating.

"I'll take the #ahem# basement…" Joseph stated as he began to walk towards a set of stairs leading downwards.

"Joseph? You still havin' trouble?" Rogue asked obviously picking up on the fact that the man was still under the weather like everyone else.

"No, I… I just feel ill." Joseph replied as he reached the top of the staircase.

"You wanna sit this one out?" Rogue asked giving the foolish man a way out before he made a fool of himself.

"I am an X-Man. I will be fine." Joseph stated firmly before disappearing from sight.

_Your pride will be your downfall mutant. _Deathbird thought with a sneer as she looked away from a Terran she did not expect to see again.

"Very well than Bishop and I will take the next floor up." Beast stated as he strolled over to a staircase leading upwards.

"That leaves the east wing for me and Cal'." Xander stated before walking away with the expectation that he would follow.

While she did not approve of the Terran making the choice for her she did approve staying with him and the area he selected for them to explore. Still she would have to remind him, once they were out of hearing range of the other X-Men, that she would be making any future decisions on their behalf. For it was she who had years of experience in battle and countless victories to her name while he likely could count his the number of battles he's been in on one hand. With her leading them she had no doubt they would discover the true intentions of the puppeteer manipulating them and then teach the fool the price for thinking he could control her.

&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&

**_One Hour Later_**

"Well I think it is safe to say that whoever owns this place has a definite fixation on the law." Xander said as he looked at an unrolled scroll of paper that to the best of his knowledge had the 'Jus Civile' or citizen law of Rome written on it, "Maybe it's a bunch of evil lawyers that are behind all of this. What do you think?"

"Unlikely, Terran." Deathbird said as she barely cast a glance at the scroll, "In my experience, such people would sooner commit suicide than step inside such a filthy hovel."

"Did you just make a joke?" Xander asked as his head snapped around to make sure the words had come from Deathbird.

"I was merely stating the truth human." Cal'Syee replied with contempt, "I suppose that a commoner such as you, though, finds humor in many things to prevent depression from sitting in."

"Hahahaha! You know Cal', if you ever get bored of trying to become empress, you should really give the comedy circuit a try." Xander stated as resumed walking through the room to the door on the otherside, "You'd be great as a 'tell it like it is' comedian."

To this comment she did exactly what he expected in that she just gave him the standard 'hmph' and strutted along behind him with a significantly offended look on her face. He was just about to try and say something to lessen the pounding he'd likely get later but before a single sound could leave his lips reinforced steel walls dropped from hidden compartments in all of the doorframes and quickly sealed him and Deathbird inside. Dashing over to the door he had been heading too he quickly used what senses he had to try and figure out if the metal was something Cal' could tear through with her talons or if he was going to have to risk a blast of black flame. Slamming his fist into the metal he quickly came to regret his action as pain shimmied its way up his arm as his force definitely met the immovable object.

"O-kay! Definitely won't be trying that again." He said to himself before he turned to Cal' to see if she'd be willing to try ripping the metal apart.

That plan fell apart though when he saw her unconscious on the floor with what looked like a tranquilizer dart sticking out of the back of her neck. Repressing his first impulse which was to check and see if his partner in the search of this fortress was okay he quickly grabbed a book from one of the shelves lining the walls and waited for the attack he knew would come. Obviously the mastermind behind he and Deathbird had been concerned about had decided that they were too dangerous to be dealt with by a frontal assault and so had chosen a sneakier way of incapacitating them. The lowering of the metal barriers had probably been meant to serve two functions: a)block off any readily available escape routes and b)provide a distraction so that the best of them could be neutralized while she was off her guard. He however had apparently been deemed to be somewhat less dangerous since he wasn't hit with a dart at the same time or to the best of his knowledge at any time afterward. The head honcho probably thought that the flame breath was his only power and believed that it was far top potent to be used in such a confined area. The truth of the matter was that Xander wasn't all that certain what would happen if he tried to use his flame in this room. It was true that to the best of his knowledge there was no substance the black energy couldn't burn through but he had no idea whether or not there were any enhancements or special doo-hickeys implanted in the walls and doors. For all he knew there was some special metal or energy field that might successfully be able to stand up to his dragon's flame and if so it would cause a rebound effect that would send it right back at him.

He was just about ready to consider summoning his armor and enhancing his strength so that he could tear a door open and escape with Cal' when without warning a sharp prick of pain flashed across his senses originating from just above his shoulders. He didn't even bother to find out what had hit him as the growing fatigue and dispersing of his focus told him all he needed to know. The thing he was wondering about as he struggled against the drugs coursing through his system was where the dart had come from in the first place. His senses had been on high alert the moment he had seen Cal'Syee out cold on the ground so he should have heard or seen something in time to defend himself. How could the dart have been fired at him with such precision and speed without giving away the position it had been fired from? Even if it had been fired using air pressure or something he would have heard the faint 'puff' of air that would have accompanied the launching of the dart. It just didn't make sense!

_I've got a ba-ad feeling about this!_ Was the last thought to cross one Xander LaVelle Harris' mind before the world went dark and he went on an involuntary trip to la-la land.

&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&

He woke up who knew what length of time later but when he did he found that he was in one of those 'good-news-bad-news' situations. On the good side he was still alive and judging from the sight of the rest of the X-Men standing alongside him so were they and that was definitely of the good considering they didn't know what was behind everything yet. The bad news though was that they all had heavy-duty restraints on that were definitely the sort with super strong individuals in mind. Looking around he saw that they had three new additions to the group, none of whom he recognized, of which Warren Worthington the Third was the only one he put a name to right then. Not surprising considering he was one of the richest men in the world and one of the few mutants whose true identity was publicly known. He was also someone attached to the X-Men so that made him believe that whoever the puppeteer was behind this game he had a beef with them as well as Gambit. So aside from the purple haired Asian woman and the big African guy with the rabbit's tail hairdo he could see no other new additions.

"So everyone okay?" He asked as he subtley tested the strength of his restraints.

"I will make whoever is responsible for this SUFFER!" Cal'Syee exclaimed angrily as she viciously tried to free herself from her restraints.

"Okay so that's a 'yes' from the high and mighty Deathbird." Xander stated as calmly as he could while taking a step away from the near berserker woman, "Anyone else?"

The others gave indications in the positive as far as their physical state of being which led him to examine the room around them in more detail. In keeping with the theme of the fortress it looked like a courtroom that screamed 'harsh punishment' with its dark décor and sharp edges. Then of course there was the fact that Gambit had his head locked in the business end of a guillotine with both hands tied behind his back. Clearly the architect wasn't a big fan of second chances but was all for the whole 'eye for an eye' way of dealing with the guilty. While Xander was definitely in favor of the punishment fitting the crime he knew that if everyone started wanting an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth it was only a matter of time before they all had seeing-eye dogs and sucked their meals through straws. Still a person with the sort of mindset to live in a place like this was definitely not going to be of the 'warm and understanding school councillor' but rather the 'fire and brimstone preacher' sort.

Hearing the sound of a mechanical door sliding open he turned to see the man who was undoubtedly the host of the show and the man behind their trip to the Antarctic. While the outfit was definitely shiny it also looked like a cross between a Roman gladiator outfit and something from an S&M shop. This did nothing to improve his opinion of the situation because a guy who was into pain and blood-drenched fights to the death was not the sort of person he wanted his life to be in the hands of now or ever. Walking past the 'seats' where the audience would usually sit in a courtroom the man in the shiny red outfit came to the center of the room. The moment he came to a stop a robot that Xander hadn't noticed before, possibly because it had been turned off up until then, rose into the air and used one hand to direct them all to the man in red.

"Erik the Red is arrived for the prosecution!" Declared the robot in a voice that was in no way human.

"Yes, Ferris, I stand ready." Spoke Erik the Red but with a slight distortion to his voice that hinted at mechanical tampering.

"If the prosecution is ready, then let the court confirm its other constituents." Ferris stated as it began its roll call, "The accused! Remy LeBeau. Known at the time of his crimes as Gambit."

"This ain't necessary, you—" Gambit exclaimed before he was cut off by the talking tin can.

"Silence! Speak only when addressed by the court." Ferris yelled with authority before waving its hand in Xander's direction, "The jury! A selection of your peers: Beast, Maggot, Rogue, Psylocke, Bishop, Deathbird and a human male."

"Maggott? Who's—" Gambit tried to ask before he was once again cut off by the talking toaster oven.

"Silence!" Ferris declared before indicating Worthington with one of his arms, "The defender, your fellow X-Man, Archangel."

"Defender? Trial for what? Who are you! Take these restraints off me! This is idiotic—" Worthington declared in clear opposition to being chained up.

"Silence! Speak only when addressed by the court. You—" Ferris stated once more making it clear that speaking without permission was a major no-no as far as it was concerned.

"You are the perfect man for this task, Archangel." Erik declared interrupting the robo-announcer this time around.

"Since I'm shackled, I guess I've got no choice." Worthington said clearly not happy with his lack of options, "But even if I do go along, who's going to judge this 'trial'?"

"We all judge each other in our own ways!" Erik replied in a tone that practically screamed villain.

_Oh yeah! This guy isn't out for justice!_ Xander thought to himself as he gained further insight into what the overall objective for this trial might be.

There was no way that this 'Erik the Red' was going to permit a fair trial or even all anything into evidence that would sabotage the picture he was painting. This was a show trial and it was clear that Remy was getting railroaded into one messy train wreck of a conclusion.

"Lights!" Erik called out and immediately three spotlights lit up on the ceiling to reveal two statues of what he presumed were mutants judging by their looks, "Behind me are the effigies of the souls swept away in an unforgivable holocaust. Many had names lost in the bloody currents of their massacre, but the two behind me were known. Prizm and Scaleface were their names before their brutal deaths. Deaths all but enacted by Remy LeBeau. Gambit! You stand accused of the crime of mass murder of the Morlocks."

_Well there's a twist that I didn't see coming!_ Xander thought as bits and pieces of the tragedy Erik mentioned flew through his mind.

It had been a big news item years ago and, for the most part, people saw it as the horrendous tragedy it was with only a few being so sick so as to cheer at the death of so many innocents. There was never any real follow up done on the story aside from the estimated body count and possible causes, but just about everyone agreed that it was right up there with all the other mass murders in history.

It was right then that Xander knew why Erik had made sure that the X-Men were present for this 'trial' rather than just dealing with Gambit exclusively. Every X-Man was connected to that one event in one manner or another whether it was because he/she was there or because they knew someone else who had been present. This was obviously all arranged to put the X-Men present through an emotional meat-grinder and maybe act as a distraction for some plan Erik had in the near future. After all it is kind of hard to catch on to what the big bad is up too when your lost in your own feelings and memories. With this revelation in mind he was heavily tempted to play his winning hand right now and stop this show trial before it went any further. However he knew there was a chance that if he let this guy go on a little longer he just might give the former Zeppo just enough rope to hang Erik with.

"Hold on a minute… just—Wait a minute. Who in blazes are you?" Worthington asked as he no doubt tried to keep his head clear despite what Erik had said, "Erik the Red isn't real. He's always a cover for someone else. Cyclops, the first time as I recall! Is this your idea of some kind of joke, Scott? Or did you finally snap and go nutso-evil like Professor X? You always did follow his lead. Because whatever else Gambit may be – and we've all had our doubts about him in the past – he's an X-Man first, and one doesn't let the other fall."

"Oh? And when has that ever mattered?" Erik spat in contempt of the winged-man's words, "What have you X-Men really done for your own kind? You shelter one or two within your precious school and leave hundreds of others to fend for themselves? And how do you choose those you will help? Take the attractive and powerful leaving the deformed and destitute Morlocks to live beneath the streets of your city? Allowing them to ingest the refuse of humanity for decades, and then standing idly by while they are exterminated?"

Much as he hated to see that blemish on the X-Men's rep Xander had to admit that he had never once seen a picture of an unattractive X-Man, nor had any member of the team of mutants been a pushover in the power department if the info in the newspapers and TV news reports were accurate. Still he couldn't blame them for being selective about which mutants they decided to help or take into their home. Even if they had Worthington as a financial backer he knew that the amount of money the X-Men had was finite as were the number of locations where mutants could safely live. It was a big world out there and even if mutants made up only a small percentage of the overall population there would still be far too many people to take care of using the Worthington fortune alone. Besides which he was pretty sure this was a case of the pot calling the kettle black since one would think that someone with access to two bases in the middle of the Antarctic would be able to find room for some mutants to make a home.

"Who's on trial here? Dem or me?" Gambit asked in order to draw the heat away from his comrade.

"Point well taken. It is most definitely you, boy." Erik replied as he turned his hateful gaze from Mr. Wings to the Cajun.

"Stopped bein' a boy long ago." Gambit said defiantly despite the precarious position his neck was in.

"And yet you still don't act like a man." Erik roared back almost spraying spittle on Remy's face, "A man would confess his crimes and accept his punishment."

"I confess that I done some t'ings I'm ashamed of." Remy admitted with true regret and self-loathing, "But dese ain't de people what need t'hear my apology."

"No! Those people are dead! At your hands!" Erik yelled in rage and with clenched fists, "Therefore, our ears and ours alone will have to serve as witnesses for your atrocities!"

"Hank? You notice someone who should be here, but ain't?" He heard Rogue whisper to his right.

"Who? Oh… you're right. He is the only one of us unaccounted for." Beast replied after doing a quick head count, "It has to be him, but why? Why would he do this?"

Taking a look around to figure out what the two of them were talking about it didn't take long for Xander to discover that there was indeed one of their group not present at the moment. Deciding to check to see if his suspicions were correct he tapped into the power of Kung Lung to enhance his vision and 'scan' Erik the Red to see if Rogue was right about his true identity. It took a moment to sift through the various bits of info his eyes were relaying to him but eventually he saw what he needed to see. Right there coating the man head to toe was an aura that was virtually identical to the one he had seen covering Joseph once before. It was a little weaker and marginally more stable but that could easily be attributed to the de-aged Magneto feeling a little under the weather earlier. Maybe the guy had developed a split personality or something? Crazier things had happened.

"Joseph!" Rogue yelled apparently determined to test her little theory, "What's this all about!"

This unfortunately only seemed to piss off ol' Erik even more which judging from the way his aura flared up was not a smart thing to do.

"Joseph? Don't disgrace me with such ludicrous assertions." Erik stated coldly and with true hate in his eyes, "Were Gambit's own recriminations not so abhorrent, Joseph would be the one tried this day. Ferris! Show their pathetic accomplice into our court."

A few moments later a figure was dragged into the 'courtroom' by two robots that took Xander's positive I.D and shredded it to pieces. There, badly beaten and barely conscious, was Joseph who looked like he had gone twenty rounds with Buffy with the Slayer using numerous blunt objects while he had nothing. With no care or restraint the robots tossed Joseph to the ground causing the young man to groan in pain before attempting to push himself off the ground. With his mind screaming 'system error!' Xander focused on Joseph in order to confirm that it was indeed him by reading the battered man's aura. Unfortunately this only served to further confuse the son of Jessica and Anthony Harris since aside from the differences he had detected in Erik's aura the two were virtually identical. How could that be? Were they twin brothers? Were they alternate reality counterparts of each other? Or were they--?

_Yes! That has to be it! _Xander thought as seemingly irrelevant pieces of information came together to form a picture that made almost everything make sense, But why is he being such a drama queen and arrange this fancy show for us?

"This 'Joseph' is sickening. He renounced who and what he truly is and then embraced his mortal foes, becoming one of them." Erik spat out with disgust, "He has already been judged and found so unworthy as to not even be allowed to waste the time of this esteemed court."

With those words 'Erik' the Red turned his focus back to Remy and Xander was left re-evaluating his strategy for handling the situation. Looking over at Cal'Syee he could see that while she seemed to be enthralled by the drama happening before her she was still paying attention to every detail. Details like his eyes glowing extra bright and the look of shock that anyone but her would most likely have missed. Shaking his head slightly to indicate that they should wait a little longer he turned back to the 'prosecuter' to see where 'Erik' took things.

"But enough speculation. Will you confess to these people the crime you have committed?" Erik asked with a determined glare.

"Which one?" Gambit asked answering one question with another.

"We speak here not of your petty larcenies, Remy LeBeau. We speak of your blood betrayal… the blackest moment in your long line of blasphemous actions." Erik replied as he gripped Gambit's jaw firmly with his right hand.

"If you mean me dealin' with Sinister, then sure." Gambit stated with hung head and guilt-laced words, "I'll admit it. I worked for him… had a heart of ice back den. Belladonna was dead. Didn't care if I lived or died. Figured I'd never love again, so I cast my fate wit' whoever come my way. Turned out ta be someone sinister."

"Wanted me ta assemble some mercs ta break into an impenetrable community." Gambit explained as his words became more and more lifeless, "He had somethin' I needed… badly… so I agreed. They were big, ugly an' mean. Did what I was paid t'do."

Don't know who this Sinister guy was but judging from the shock, disbelief and manifesting anger showing on the faces of the rest of the X-Men he guessed the baddie was right up there with Angelus in terms of sheer evil. He imagined that Gambit's revelation was probably the same as if Oz revealed that he had helped Deadboy Evil rob the local blood bank or something. Definitely something bad but he had a gut feeling that the worst was yet to come.

"You… you worked for MR.Sinister?" Beast exclaimed in disbelief, "And didn't tell us?"

"What? You were in bed with one of our greatest enemies!" Rogue yelled with equal shock and denial, "For how long, Remy? For how long!"

"T'ain't like dat, Rogue. It was somethin' I'd done, and wasn't none too proud of but once I joined you X-Men, I put all dat behind me. Just like you did once, chere. Remember?" Gambit replied with desperation in his voice as he tried to stop his love from looking at him the way she was at that moment.

"You cannot set aside your past!" Erik bellowed in an attempt to verbally obliterate Gambit's defence of himself, "A man's character is the sum of his actions."

"Exactly, and this man has proved himself time and time over. I don't like what I'm hearing, but the fact is men can change what they are. They can escape the darkness in their souls." Worthington stated rising to the defense of his fellow X-Man, "I reclaimed mine from Apocalypse, Joseph turned his own life around, and Gambit—"

"Fool! Gambit is directly responsible for the darkness that befell you!" Erik declared before the blue billionaire could continue, "You are quick to defend a man who so permanently scarred you, Archangel."

_Oh yeah! This guy is putting the emotional screws to the X-Men big time!_ Xander thought as he felt another turn in the tide of emotions coming up, _I wonder though if he'd act so self-rightious if it was him on trial instead of Gambit._

"What… do you mean? Gambit?" Worthington asked his friend in order to find a way out of his confusion, "What's he talking about?"

"Nothin'." Was Gambit's only reply as he refused to look at his friend.

"Tell him, Gambit, exactly who it was that you so efficiently assembled that night." Erik demanded with a stern look on his face, "Tell them all how much evil you and you alone congregated in the name of greed."

"Had nothin' t'do with greed, blast you!" Gambit yelled in anger as the Cajun likely began to figure out the true purpose of this 'trial', "I got nothin' more ta say in front of dem. Whoever you are, you already must know what you're gettin' at. You tell 'em if you want. Tell us all an' get it over with."

"I... I know what it is." Psylocke stated hesitantly as if she was about to reveal something that could hurt her reputation among her friends as well.

"Betsy?" Worthington asked with barely hidden fear.

"The prosecution calls Psylocke to testify!" Erik said wasting no time in using ammo that could potentially hurt Gambit's case even more.

"I know the names of some of those he assembled: Arclight, Scrambler, Scalphunter, Vertigo, Harpoon, Riptide and Sabretooth." Betsy, aka Psylocke, stated as she listed the names of the mercenaries Remy had gathered, "Evil beings with one intention: to become marauders of the underground and destroy any Morlocks they found there... all because that madman Sinister deemed their existence scientifically useless. These memories have been locked away in my mind for months since I mindlinked with Remy."

Xander didn't know the names of she mentioned from the cast of the latest reality TV show but to hear that someone... a sentient being... had assembled a team of killers to wipe out mutants with little or no way to defend themselves sickened him. However unlike the rest of the X-Men he didn't cast any of the blame for the massacre at Remy. He was smart enough to realize that if Sinister wanted the Morlocks dead then it wouldn't have mattered whether Gambit was involved or not. One way or another than monster would have found a way to make it happen making it only a matter of bad luck that the Cajun had gotten involved.

"Not sayin' it ain't true. But I am saying a man can change. I don't want anyone ta forget what I done... jus' forgive." Gambit said sounding all but defeated, "I suspected Psylocke knew dis secret. Could've killed her long ago and silenced de secret forever, but I didn't. I ain't no villain."

Needless to say he didn't have to wait long for the mindless ranting and raving to start but he was surprised it was Worthington rather than Rogue.

"You created the Marauders! You cost me my wings! You did that to me!" Warren yelled with an emotion beyond hatred in his voice, "And then you stood by my side – pretended to be my friend – and never said a damn word about any of it! I should drop that blade on your neck myself, you traitor!"

_And just like the vengence crazed lunatics on TV Mr. Wings only sees what he wants to see._ Xander thought shaking his head with a sigh, _Almost makes me want to call up Buffy and say I'm sorry for not looking at the whole thing she had with Angel from all points of view. Almost but not quite._

"And you knew about it? All this time and you never told me?" Worthington yelled at Betsy.

"I didn't know. I mean, I did, but it only now came back to me, Warren. After all I've been through –" Psylocke replied as she tried to defend her choice not to reveal what she knew before today.

"Save it, Betsy... just..." Warren said unable to even finish what he was going to say to his most likely ex-girlfriend, "And you, Gambit. You can defend yourself. I'd like to see you try—"

"There is no defense." Erik the Red declared smugly, "Of course, this is only the tip of the proverbial iceberg. More of a falling glacier, to be exact. But, as the defendant has shown a distinct lack of cooperation in this matters, the prosecution will call a special witness who can get more fully to the heart of the matter. The court calls the reformed villainess Rogue to the defendant's box."

It didn't take Xander even a second to figure out what 'Erik' had in mind or what after effects the asshole's methods would have on the relationship between the two X-Men. Deciding that enough was enough and it was time for action he decided to get everyone's attention in his usual unique manner.

"Well I think I've seen enough." He said as tried to sound as bored as possible, "You know you villain types should really cut down on the melodrama in your master plans because, quite frankly, you'll lose the audience if you overdo it."

"Silence! Only speak when addressed by the—" Ferris attempted to say once again.

"Oh shut the hell up you poor excuse for an artificial intelligence!" Xander yelled back with authority before turning to 'Erik', "Really Erik couldn't you have designed him a little better? I mean, you have all this tech at your disposal and THAT is the best you could come up with! My best bud back home could do better and she's barely out of high school for crying out loud!"

"Silence boy! You are only here to observe the proceedings!" snarled Erik as he clearly didn't like being interrupted when he was winding up for the big finale.

"Well exxcccuuse me for having no tolerance for listening to a hypocrite go on and on about punishing someone for mass murder when he's dodged punishment for the same crime himself!" Xander said as he snarled right back at the jackass.

This of course neatly completed his plan of getting everyone's attention focused on him and would be perfect for his big finale.

"You know who Erik the Red is Xander?" Beast asked both surprised and supremely interested.

"Oh I know who he is alright!" Xander replied as he prepared to make his big play, "And I'll prove it right NOW!"

With that final word he summoned his armor in a flash of light and thanks to the decidedly insufficient lighting in the courtroom it had the added of temporarily blinding everyone in the room. Of course that wasn't all as it also shattered the restraints keeping him tied down since the metal shackles suddenly found themselves to be one size too small. However he didn't take any time to take pride in the fact that his hunch had proven correct where the armor was concerned since he knew that 'Erik' would soon recover. Leaping over the barrier that had been placed in front of all the 'jurors' he tapped into the power of Kung Lung and enhanced his strength, speed and agility until it was just below where he bet Spider-Man was in those areas. Charging across the room he was more than halfway to his target before the red clad man flung his left hand out and stopped him in his tracks with some unseen power. However Xander had been expecting this from the beginning so with a single mental command he banished his armor and with it Erik the Red's sole means of holding him. Freed from the unseen power he continued to charge forward with barely a second's pause between being stopped by 'Erik' and freeing himself.

"I think it's time you stopped fooling around 'Erik' and showed everyone your true face!" Xander said with superhuman agility and speed he leapt at his target.

However it was not his intention to tackle the man to the ground or to actually strike him. No the move he had in mind would do far more damage to Erik the Red than any physical attack could possible do. Once he was safely in reach he grabbed ahold of the sides of Erik's mask and as his momentum began to carry him up into a headstand above his target's cranium his arms yanked as hard as they could in opposite directions. Like Hulk Hogan tearing his shirt off before a match so too did Erik's mast tear revealing his face for all to see.

"MAGNETO!" exclaimed Beast, Worthington and Psylocke.

"But… how?" Rogue managed to ask just barely as it looked like her head was going to go into overload.

"I had the same question when I figured it out, but I think I got it all worked out now." Xander replied as he dropped the torn mask and let his momentum dry up, "The way you guys tell it, you stumbled across 'Joseph' a little before that whole mess with Onslaught and assumed that just because he looked like Magneto and had the same powers, that it was really him. You just wrote off his fountain of youth looks and amnesia as a by-product of how he survived your last fight with him.

"I thought that too until horn head here had Joseph dragged in here." Xander said as he turned to face the newly revealed true Master of Magnetism, "All it took was a quick look at both to figure out what was going on. Next time, Maggy, you might want to be a bit more thorough with your disguise before the curtain goes up."

"Damn you for your interference!" Magneto yelled angrily as he realized that his plan to destabilize the X-Men had blown up in his face.

"Get in line buddy!" Xander retorted as he hoped that the X-Men could take advantage of Erik Lensherr's attention being focused on him to escape from their restraints, "Counting you I got about seventy people, demons and vampires damning me for something!"

"Then it is a shame that they will not have the chance to exact their revenge!" Magneto yelled in anger as he began to thrust his right hand in Xander's direction with undoubtedly numerous bloody things in his mind as far as what to do to the obnoxious youth that had ruined his plans.

Fortunately for Xander several people took exception to the Master of Magnetism's declaration and decided to make their positions on the subject bluntly known. Surprisingly enough, it was Deathbird who got to Magneto first and let him know what she thought of the 'kill Xander painfully' plan by slashing him across the chest with the talons that tipped each of her fingers and both thumbs. While the man's outfit did provide him with some protection from the way he was clutching his chest after flinging Cal' away with his powers, the Shi'ar Regent had managed to do some serious damage.

"It would seem that matters are coming to an unexpected close here boy!" Magneto growled as he edged backwards a few steps, "I will remember this! Ferris! To my chambers! It is time to bring this all to an end!"

With those words Lensherr made a violent gesture to the ceiling and almost immediately the entire fortress began to shake like Willow after too many cups of coffee. From there came the falling debris and the obvious signs of a self-destruct device all villains seemed to have built into their not-so-hidden lairs.

"Uh-oh! He's bringing the house down!" Beast said with significant concern, "We have to evacuate! Immediately! Psylocke, help Joseph. Rogue, you—"

"Ah'll help Gambit" Rogue said as she flew towards the guillotine her lover was trapped in.

"Not alone, you're not." Xander muttered to himself as he headed for the Cajun as well with Deathbird right behind him.

He knew that Rogue cared for Gambit, that much was made obvious at several points since he had bumped into the X-Men, but given the revelations that Magneto had pulled out for all to see he didn't trust her to be thinking with a clear head.

"No, Rogue! Save yourself!" Gambit yelled as the three of them arrived at the guillotine.

"Everyone! Gather here in my shadows." Betsy yelled from across the room, "I can teleport us! Quickly!"

"Let the walls come down on me, chere." Gambit said in defeat as though he was perfectly willing to let himself be crushed to death by the collapsing fortress.

"Ah won't jus' leave you in here to die." Rogue said her voice thick with churning emotions, "And self-pity really don't suit you, Remy."

Once Rogue had successfully snapped the top of the guillotine off and broke the top half of the metal plate holding Gambit Xander immediately threw the man over his shoulder as quick as he could and made a dash for where he could see Psylocke holding her 'shadows' open waiting for them. He could hear a surprised noise from Rogue as she no doubt had intended to be the one to fly her lover to 'safety' but due to his earlier concerns about her mental state he believed it was too risky to leave Gambit for her to deal with. Reaching the shadows that Psylocke was holding open he looked at her for a moment as if to ask 'what do I do now'.

"Just walk through it you git!" she exclaimed clearly impatient for him, Deathbird, Gambit and Rogue to pass through so she could follow and close her 'shadows' behind her.

Not questioning an angry Brit, a female one at that, he charged through the shadows and almost immediately wished he hadn't as his senses went from normal to 'thirty-minutes-in a blender-on-frapee'.

_I hate it when this happens!_ He thought to himself as he fought to remain conscious and keep his lunch on the inside where it belonged.

&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&

**_X-Mansion Front Lawn, Exactly Thirty Minutes After Leaving Antarctica_**

"Note to self: never EVER travel by shadow with that woman AGAIN!" Xander said out loud as he tried to keep what he had on the Shi'ar cruiser from coming up the way it went down.

Unlike some people might think traveling by unusual means did NOT get any easier the second time around. The first jump had been to Warren's penthouse so SoHo, Manhattan in order to get Joseph some medical attention and because Betsy said she needed to take a breather from teleporting so many people. From the looks the Brit-speaking Asian was receiving from the others, there was a distinct feeling in his gut that she wasn't being entirely truthful. Of course he didn't have a lot of time to look at Psylocke as Worthington tried twice to attack Gambit in a fit of rage and only a solid punch from Rogue and a threat of losing his wings a second time from the Xan-man stopped him from making good on his threats. Once Joseph had recovered enough, as evidenced by him using his powers to re-arrange a blanket he had been given so as to repair his uniform, Betsy opened up another shadow portal that would put them on the front lawn of the X-Men's HQ. Warren had stiffly stated that he'd be staying at his apartment to clean up the damage caused by someone called 'Iceman' and Betsy said that she'd just be dropping all of them off before returning to the penthouse to help Worthington.

_Fine by me! Any time spent away from Mr.'Needs-Anger-Management-Classes' is time well spent as far as I'm concerned._ Xander thought to himself as he looked up to see the front door of the mansion completely demolished, _Looks like someone else with the same kinda problem decided to pay the X-Men a visit. Ah the fun never ends does it!_

Not even taking a minute to blurt out the clichéd 'what the hell' question, everyone ran for the demolished front door hoping to both find out what had happened and if it was trouble that they weren't too late to help their friends. Judging from the monster sized footprints that Xander could see starting at the front step he was betting something big and nasty had decided to make a house call on the team of mutants. As they reached the front door they could hear the tail end of some dimwitted jock's not so witty sarcasm.

"…the 'stoppable on weekends' one! Besides… procrastinatin's fer wimps." Spoke the idiotic jock voice that was apparently coming from the red tank with arms and legs that was standing about halfway up a staircase, "Why put off beatin' the tar outtta the X-Chumps 'till tomorrow when ya can kill them real good today?"

"Because the worthless life you save may be your own." Declared Joseph who was apparently trying to sound more fit and healthy than he actually was, "Get out of our house."

"Well put, Joseph. However you might want to try again, using a more elementary sentence structure if you catch my ever-so-subtle witticism regarding the man's cognitive faculties" Beast said as he looked ready to intercept if the red-armored behemoth decided to charge them, "What about, 'Jug-gey go'? Give it a whirl."

"Well, well. The gang's all here an' we even have three newbies here for me to squash." The giant sized armored jock remarked before asking, "So who's gonna be first? The Black Ranger? Mr. Bait-and-tackle? Or is Little Miss Feather Duster gonna tickle me to death?"

"You dare to--!" Deathbird yelled as she prepared to move forward to make the titan regret his choice of aliases for her.

"Easy Cal'! Something tells me taking on chrome dome on steroids there isn't—" was as far as he got trying to keep Deathbird from changing this from a standoff to an all-out brawl before she grabbed his restraining arm and threw him at mach 3 over her shoulder towards the nearest wall.

Needless to say the unexpected flight and sudden impact left him dazed for a few minutes but he could still hear what was going on around him.

"What is Deathbird doing here?" A regal yet smooth woman's voice asked with surprise, "Who is he?"

He knew without looking that Regal woman was talking about him but as he slowly got to his feet he was a little more concerned on Cal' resuming her charge on Chrome Dome.

"The volatile Regent Deathbird was our escort on the return journey from Shi'ar space Storm." Beast replied as diplomatically as he could, "Due to an unforeseen encounter with a U.F.O, the ship barely managed to survive passing through the stargate. As for the rest… I believe it would be wise to wait until the current crisis has passed."

"HAW-haw! Ain't this precious! It's finally caught up to ya, hasn't it!" Juggy said with a mighty laugh, "After all the Onslaughts an' Sentinels am' the Zero Tolerances you punks've lost it! Yer fallin' apart! HAW-HAW!"

"Silence! Cease your laughter or by Sharra I will have your blood dripping from my hands!" said Deathbird threateningly as Juggy's laughter seemed to only make her madder.

He was just about to try to calm the Shi'ar regent down a second time when the scream of a man in true agony ripped through the air stopping everyone cold.

"Storm! I need a big assist here! NOW!" Came the voice of a woman who sounded like she was used to calling the shots in a crisis, "Jean lost her grip on the bomb and Scott's awake!"

This of course froze people in shock squared compared to what the scream of pain had done especially with the mention of the word 'bomb'.

"'scuse me?" Came a shocked question from the eight foot tall mountain of muscle that ten seconds ago was ready, willing and able to tear them all to pieces and enjoy it.

"Hank! The doctor needs your medical expertise – Joseph, contain that device!" The woman called Storm asked urgently as she looked at something out of sight on the upper levels.

"If you'll pardon me gang for just a twinkling," Beast said as he leapt high into the air to the upper level clearing the railing easily, "Time for the e'er bombastic Beast to dazzle the ladies with indescribable feats of intrepidity. No flash photography, please."

"Ain't you gonna hop to, longhair?" Juggy asked Joseph sarcastically.

"Not until I finish—" replied Joseph looking ready to unleash the full fury of his mutant powers on the giant in red armor.

"Hold on Joseph. The big nasty ticking piece of doom up there seems just a tad more urgent than dealing with this guy." Xander said as he stopped the copy of Magneto from doing something rash and summoned his armor.

"Yeah. Go do what you do best, and let the rest of us handle the light work." Said the African named Maggot with confidence, "I'm Maggott, you're biscuit, hey?"

"What… exactly… are you guys supposed to be?" Juggy asked as he tried to figure out who exactly the two punks were who were trying to intimidate him, "A Power Ranger and a Bait and tackle salesman?"

Xander let out a growl all his own at once AGAIN being compared to those cardboard cut out teen heroes. He had a distinct feeling in his gut that this was going to be a recurring theme in his life and mentally made note to pay Strange back later.

"We're the last things you'll see before you take an unscheduled nap." Xander said trying to inspire the sort of fear Vader could in the movies, "I haven't decided whether or not you'll be allowed to wake up again later."

"And how do you suppose that's going to happen when I leave you a few vital organs short of a full set?" Juggy asked clearly not impressed or intimidated by words alone.

"Eeny… if you please?" Maggott asked the metal slug on his right arm as he pointed it in the direction of a previously unseen lawyer.

The man was apparently trying to find a safe way to get out of dodge but given that he was surrounded by people of varying powers he obviously figured it would be easier said than done. When he spotted the slug called Eeny heading towards him though he went rigid with terror and fainted dead away when the metal bug ate right through his briefcase. 

"They eat through anything… everything" Maggott said as Eeny began to head back towards him, "…least of all vrot stoepkakkers like yourself."

"Of course they might prefer their meal cooked a little before they dig in." Xander said as he produced just enough black flame from his mouth to provide a visual hint of what he was referring to, "Personally I'm thinking they'd like it well done. Maggott?"

"Let the girls get a few chomps in first." Maggott replied as the second slug he was carrying crawled to the floor to join Eeny and the two of them got into position to chow down on Juggy, "Then if they want some extra crispy you can fix 'em right up."

"HAHA! You kids got chutzpah! I'll give you that!" Juggy said as he gave them both a strong slap on the shoulders like they were old friends or something, "You make me smile. No food, no cash, big hole inna roof, the Boy Scout's on his last legs and the best and brightest new X-men threaten the unstoppable Juggernaut with killer slugs and a bad case of morning breath! Ha!"

"I don't need t'spend time beatin' ya senseless… you're doing it to yourselves!" Juggernaut said as he picked up the unconscious lawyer and jumped down to ground level, "See ya in a month or two… when yer all beggin' me to take over this dump! GIANT SLUGS AND A POWER RANGER… HA! I bet Charlie's fallin' out of his wheelchair over that one!"

With that the titan called the Unstoppable Juggernaut, a being considered to be right up there with the Incredible Hulk, vanished into the slowly dissipating mist encircling the mansion.

"Good show, dolls… he knew he couldn't take us." Maggott said to his two metal slugs, "Would've sent his tin-canned self home with hap marks all down his guava."

"Excuse me, but…" Storm asked casting a wary look at Maggott, "…you are not well… are you?"

"Frankly lady I think we're all a little crazy." Xander said as he banished his armor and turned to her, "He's just a little more nuts considering he's talking to a pair of metal slugs like they're beach bunnies."

&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&

**_An Hour Later, Top Floor at the Rear of the Mansion_**

"So is it always like this or did your friends set this up to impress me?" Xander asked the Cajun from his place by the window.

It had been tense for everyone after the Juggernaut left as not only did the life of the leader of the X-Men hang in the balance but also the threat of the bomb which was apparently designed to entomb everything in the blast radius with grey goop. Needless to say it was a tense couple of minutes with most of the X-Men not part of the group that had gone to the Shi'ar Empire looking at him, Maggott and Deathbird warily. Once the problem of the bomb was dealt with, in a most unique if slightly disgusting way, it was pretty much 'make Cyclops comfortable and make yourselves at home' for everyone. For him that meant sticking close to Gambit to make sure none of the others tried anything with him should the details of the 'trial' come out. He hoped that once everyone calmed down they could walk through the info with calm heads and try to come up with a more humane resolution than Magneto's off with his head approach. He knew he didn't have all the facts about the Morlock massacre and that he was just going with his own gut on this but he had a feeling that the event was a lot more complicated than it looked. From the way they had been talking and reaction to the mention of this Sinister guy he had to be a major player for the side of badness. If that was the case then why did he hire a middle-man like Gambit to recruit the Marauders or to locate the Morlocks in the first place? It just didn't jibe with what he knew about bad guys.

_While it's true that most uber-villains don't get their hands dirty this 'Mr.Sinister' doesn't seem like the type to allow for too many loose ends in his plans._ Xander thought as he looked to where Cal' was sitting and fuming about something, _So either Gambit doesn't know anything useful or the Cajun is part of some larger plan._

"Pretty much mon amie." Gambit replied with a faked example of his roguish charm, "Though usually we have a li'le more in de way of furniture an' the like set 'bout the place."

"No prob'. Least this place smells better than my last apartment." Xander said as he turned to look at the Cajun directly, "As long as none of you X-Men are chain smokers then I consider this place a step up in accommodations for me."

For a moment it looked like Remy wanted to say something but was having difficulty putting it into words.

"If you got something to say Remy just say it, okay?" Xander said trying to make it clear that Gambit could be perfectly honest and blunt with him.

"Why you make sure that you was the one dat got me to Betsy's shadow 'stead of Rogue?" Asked the Cajun with interest.

"What do you mean?" asked Xander given that he didn't want to give an explanation that might portray Rogue in a bad light.

Gambit just stared him down making clear that he was going to get an answer one way or another.

"Sigh Look the truth is I was afraid she was going to do something terminal to you or something." Xander replied as he avoided looking Gambit in the eye, "I don't know who this Sinister guy is but judging by how the others looked at you like you were that traitor guy from the Bible, it didn't take much imagination to see where things might go if I didn't do something. Plus I don't think you deserve as much punishment as everyone thinks you do."

"What d'ya mean by dat?" Gambit asked with lack of understanding clearly on his face.

"Yes, Terran, what do you mean?" Deathbird asked apparently interested enough by the topic of conversation to take time out from her fume session.

"Well for one thing this Sinister strikes me as being the clever/cunning sort with tech decades ahead of anything most governments have." Xander replied trying to summarize his theory and thoughts, "If that's true than why did he hire Gambit at all? If he had the tech and resources to recruit the Marauders on his own why hire someone else to do it for him? Even if he wanted a middle-man to make the offer in his place once he had the mercs why not just have them find the Morlock tunnels? There are just too many things he could have done for himself instead of hiring Gambit. Bad guys at his level generally aren't big on wasted resources or effort, ya know?"

"You are proposing that this 'Sinister' had an ulterior motive for hiring Gambit?" Cal' asked apparently willing to go along with his theory for the time being.

"Yeah I guess I am. I'll have to ask around before I can say for sure, but right now I think that you were being played by Sinister from the beginning Remy." Xander replied as he looked at the Cajun, "Now let's settle in for the night. I gotta head into Manhattan tomorrow and get a few things from Doc Strange."

Both Deathbird and Gambit looked like they wanted to talk further and hammer out the specifics of his theory, especially the Cajun, but the two of them had to concede that it had been a busy day and could use some rest. So walking around a bit they all found someplace reasonably comfortable in the room to lay down and fell to sleep.


	12. A Quiet Day in the City

_Next Day, What is Left of the X-Mansion's Living Room, Morning_

_Xander my man, I hope you know what you're doing._ Xander thought as he waited for the last couple of X-Men to come and sit down.

It had been a painful night since hardwood floors do **not** make for the best beds no matter **how** tired you are. Add to that the fact that he had to deal with Cal'Syee voicing her opinion of the room she had been forced to sleep in and it all merged into a bad night as well as an even worse morning. When he had seen the look on her face he had hoped that Gambit might be able to help him calm her down and reduce her to just copping a 'tude instead of violence but the thief had been smart and vanished before either of them woke up. Once he had managed to placate, somewhat, the Regent he headed downstairs to see what might be going on and get a better measure of his housemates. Still mostly wearing their spandex super hero outfits he was glad to see that somehow one of them had managed to take a trip down to the local donut and coffee shop to get them all something resembling breakfast. After getting three donuts and a coffee into him a bout of practicality hit him and he decided that the 'meet-and-greet' between him and the X-Men he didn't know could be accomplished at the same time as his 'debriefing'.

He knew it would only be a matter of time before someone on the team of X-Men he had fought alongside let slip what was revealed in Antarctica and then chaos would ensue. By holding a debriefing with himself as the speaker they'd not only get an impartial retelling of events but also hear his theory about the possible truth of the massacre. He'd also be able to get a better read on what kind of person each X-Man was in the process which would help him decide if he really wanted to move in here. So once his breakfast was finished he told them that he had something to tell them and that once they were finished with their morning duties to assemble in the living room. It was a little bold of him to say something like that given that it was their home and he was just a visitor but it was the only way he could think of to get them all together.

One hour later he was taking one last look around the room and grimaced as he saw two people approaching him that had the ability to stop his plan in its tracks.

"What's this all about sugah?" Rogue asked with a greater amount of curiosity than suspicion.

"Indeed. I must admit I was somewhat… concerned… at what could be so important that you wished to have all X-Men in attendance." Beast said with the opposite proportions of curiosity and suspicion in his voice.

"Well I thought I'd tell everyone what we learned in Antarctica and then tell them about a little theory I have." Xander replied as if he was just telling them what a routine day for him was like.

"WHAT?" Both X-Men exclaimed which drew looks and stares from everyone else in the room as they were all curious as to what might have caused the outburst.

"Hey, hey, hey quiet down will ya?" Xander said at a volume just above a whisper as a hint for them to do the same, "Look I just think that we should get this info out all at once rather than have Warren 'Wings' Worthington or someone else spill the beans without thinking."

"While I admit that does seem like the safest course of action to take under the circumstances, why you? Why should you be the one to deliver this destabilizing debriefing?" Beast asked, a little less suspicious and a lot more discreet, "Surely myself or perhaps Bishop might be better suited to illuminating the others as to what we have learned."

"No, not really, no. No matter who says what here it's going knock everyone for a loop and make a lot of people pissed at whoever does the telling no matter what." Xander replied trying to lay out his reasoning for his blue furred friend, "It won't matter if they had anything to do with the event or the trial, they'll always be pegged as the one who told them about it. I figure it's better for that person to be me since if one of you did it, it'd mess up your teamwork or something."

"Very well but know that we will both be nearby if you need assistance." Beast said to which Rogue nodded in agreement.

"Thanks Hank. I just might take you up on that soon." Xander said as the last of the X-Men as well as his fellow newbies and Deathbird sat down.

_Well time to find out if this is one of my better ideas or not._ Xander thought as he took a deep breath to calm his nerves a little.

"Well I'm sure you're all wondering why I asked you all to meet here this morning and despite the support I'd get from the men, it is not to propose a wet T-shirt contest for the women." Xander said figuring it'd be good to open with a joke and, judging from the Ice Dude's reaction, it was indeed, "Instead I thought I'd let you all know what happened up in the Antarctic since I'm sure you're all dying to know."

With that he began to retell what happened from the moment he came to in the tunnels until Psylocke dropped them on the front lawn of the mansion. He of course omitted anything and everything that might have triggered Cal's homicidal tendencies such has what position he had been in when he had regained consciousness - contrary to popular opinion back at Sunnydale High School, he was **not** stupid. He also told them about his own covert investigation, highlighting each new piece of evidence concerning Magneto aka Erik the Red. The start and the middle of his explanations were accepted well enough and he thought he might have even seen a glimmer of respect in Bishop and Mr. Weird Hairdo's eyes at his observations. When the time finally came for the info that was revealed at the trial itself though that was when things began to heat up big time. With emotions very similar to the ones that scrolled across the faces of Rogue and Beast back in the Antarctic, the X-Men learned of Gambit's role in the massacre of the Morlocks. After that he concluded with his startling unmasking of Erik the Red, exposing him as the true Magneto, and then waited to see how everyone would react.

For the most part they seemed stunned into silence with either grim looks on their faces or outright anger in bone girl's case. If any one of them was going to pop their cork and go 'Remy hunting' it was going to be her so he made sure to keep an eye on her at all times. The ones that seemed to be taking this the best were the white haired woman, Storm, and Mr. Weird Hairdo, with the former feeling sorry for Gambit and the latter having a 'it happened, so what?' look on his face. Definitely promising but with at least three people including the bone girl being difficult to get an accurate reading off of in terms of face interpretation he figured it would be a good idea to begin explaining his theory.

"Now I know you guys probably have your own opinions of Remy right now but personally I think you're probably heaping more blame on him than he deserves." Xander said sounding perfectly reasonable and rational.

In other words so 'un-Xander-like' it was scaring even him.

"How'd you come to that conclusion lizard boy?" Asked the Ice Dude with an even mix of bitterness and anger in his voice that would no doubt be directed to Gambit if he was here.

"By actually looking at the facts and trying to remain objective, Ice Cube." Xander replied not losing his reasonable tone of voice, "Oh, and for future reference, that's 'dragon boy' to you.

"From what I've seen on your faces when the name Sinister comes up I take it he's a heavy hitter in the X-Men baddie category." Xander said trying to remember everything he had learned from Willow about speaking in front of a group, "Hey Beast? Where would you say Sinister's tech was at the time of the massacre? Would we be talking ten years ahead of everyone else? Twenty years?"

"Judging from what little we were able to observe at the time and observations made in the years immediately following the Morlock Massacre, I would have to say that Mr. Sinister's technological advantage was easily thirty years ahead of the rest of the world." Beast replied promptly and professionally.

"That far ahead huh? Then why did he hire Gambit when he could have easily recruited the Mauraders and located the Morlock tunnels on his own?" Xander asked bringing up the questions he thought the Ice Cube had conveniently forgotten to ask himself, "Call me crazy but most Uber-baddies don't waste resources or effort when they don't have to."

Taking a moment to let his questions and his point sink in he tried to measure the effect his words were having on the assembled group. While Ice Cube and Bone Girl were still wearing their 'I want to kill Remy' faces, those that had been a little more undecided definitely had their thinking caps on.

"Then we come to the people Sinister asked Gambit to round up." Xander said to get everyone's attention, "Now while I might not know anything about them aside from their names but with codenames like Sabretooth and Scalphunter, I think it's safe to say that there were at least two mutants with serious tracking abilities on the team. Hell! With the tech Sinister had he probably could have cobbled together some kind of scanner to do that job easily. So basically this guy had either the tech to find the Morlocks or people on his team of killers who could have found the targets on their own. Again that raises the question: why he had Remy do it if he didn't need to?"

"If you have a theory on that bub just spit it out and quit dancing around it," growled Mr. Weird Hairdo with a little impatience in his voice.

"Well I haven't got it all worked out yet but I think Sinister wanted to make Gambit into a mole inside the X-Men or at least one of the X-teams." Xander replied before bringing up his hand to stop any outbursts, "Think about it. Before this Belladonna's death what kind of person was he? Basically an okay kind of guy I'd like to think. After her death he became ice cold, like he said, and probably would've either gone evil or gotten himself killed. Sinister probably knew this and saw it as an opportunity. If he could arrange a big enough shock to not only shatter the 'ice dude' routine but also get him to want redemption the odds of Gambit hooking up with one of the X-teams or at least a hero group would go up. So he hired Remy to recruit the Marauders and lead them to the Morlock tunnels knowing seeing a sight like that would do just what he wanted it to do."

"Nice theory but going all angsty and joining the X-Men are a little too far apart to be possible." Ice Dude said taking pleasure in poking holes in any defence that might make Gambit look good.

"Is it? How did Gambit hook up with you guys anyways?" Asked Xander as he really didn't know the answer and hoped it would only help his case rather than harm it.

"He was attempting to infiltrate the mansion of the Shadow King in order to rob him when he saw me crash through a window and into a pool below." Storm replied with a tone in her voice that told him his argument was having an effect, "He rescued me and once we were able to lose the Shadow King's pursuit we began to steal together. Eventually we returned here to the mansion and Gambit decided to join me when I rejoined the X-Men."

"Did Gambit ever tell you what caused him to pick out this Shadow King guy's mansion to rob?" Xander asked as he sensed the possibility of a major point in his argument's favor emerging.

"No. Back then Gambit rarely spoke of his past and when he did it was only in a vague manner." Storm replied after taking a moment to think a little.

"So it's possible that Sinister might have arranged for Gambit to be at the Shadow King's mansion the night you were making a break for it." Xander proposed since he believed it would certainly be in keeping with the Uber villain's M.O, "A few hints dropped here, maybe an article in the local paper mentioning a few stealable items, and I'm sure Gambit gave into temptation without much thought."

"Once he was with the X-Men all Sinister probably had to do was pop up every once and awhile and threaten to tell everyone about his connection to the massacre to get the Cajun to do what he wanted." Xander said plunging onward in his theory, "Probably didn't work though since Gambit doesn't strike me as the time to do what the devil tells him a second time."

"Why didn't he just tell us?" Ice Cube asked as though he was scrambling to keep everyone in the 'hate Remy' column, "If you're right then telling us would've made Sinister's blackmail material useless."

"Gee Frostbite! That sounds like a great idea!" Xander replied getting a little pissy at the walking ice maker's narrow-mindedness, "I can see him just strolling into the kitchen one morning and saying 'Hey mes ami! How's breakfast and oh by the way I worked for one of your greatest enemies **and** played a role in one of the greatest massacres of our time!' Yeah! That would've gone over real well freezer boy!"

This one statement may have been a little harsh and over the top but it dealt a devastating blow to those who were still angry at Gambit for not telling them the truth sooner. They were no doubt realizing that in the beginning Remy had no reason to tell them the truth because they were only acquaintances then not friends. When the X-Men did make the jump from associates to friends the Cajun had a big reason to keep his mouth shut which was he didn't want to lose his friends and love as he'd probably been certain he would once the truth came out. He could tell that as much as they'd like to say otherwise none of the X-Men could deny that their reactions would have been a little on the overkill side if Remy had come clean with them a few years earlier.

"Look, what you would or wouldn't have done is beside the point, the thing to think about is how things must've looked from Gambit's point of view." Xander said not wanting them to get bogged down any, "He was probably feeling like crap after the massacre and jumped at the chance to earn some redemption by joining the X-Men. Chances were any time he thought about coming clean his mind put up the worst-case scenario of how you guys'd react and stopped him cold. After all what do guilty people do but think up worst case scenarios for how the people they know're going to react."

A voice in the back of his mind noted that Buffy had used similar methods in defending Angel both before and after the whole Acathla. Naturally he pointed out to the voice that this was completely different as Gambit was human, alive, not under a stupid curse and had been duped by Sinister since day one. Angel on the other hand was a vamp that for over a century did so much evil that he got the name 'Scourge of Europe' added on to his resume. The fact that he now had a soul made little difference and besides which Remy didn't brood even half as much as the gelled wonder did. The voice merely laughed at him before going back to whatever dark corner of his mind it had come from.

"You've given us a great deal to consider Xander." Storm said in an official leader-like tone, "Thank you."

"No problem. Just standing up for a friend." Xander replied while hoping that his words would be enough to keep Gambit from being eviscerated, "Now if you'll excuse me I've got a few things to pick up before settling in here. Rogue? Care to give me a lift into Manhattan?"

"Sure sugah." Rogue replied sounding a less troubled than before and maybe a little grateful to him for backing Remy up.

"Getting a little ahead of yourself aren't ya kid?" Ice Dude asked apparently very much the sore loser, "What makes you think that we're going to let you move in?"

"Well let's see: 1) I helped Rogue and the others turn back the Phalanx invasion of the Shi'ar empire, 2) I exposed Erik the Red as being Magneto in disguise and" Xander replied ticking off the reasons with his fingers, "3) I have a little over two thousand dollars I can use to pay rent here for at least three months. Unless I'm mistaken, money is something you guys are a little short on and I don't think place to stay is too much to ask for considering the reasons I just mentioned."

This of course shut Ice Cube up quickly as a combination of sound reason and glares from some of the other X-Men made it clear opening his mouth again would be a bad idea.

&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&

_Touching Down at the Back Door of Dr. Strange's House, One Hour Later_

"So what're we doin' here sugah?" Rogue asked as she landed behind the house belonging to the Sorcerer Supreme Dr. Strange.

"Well after my apartment building burned down last Halloween I've been staying at Doc Strange's place so there're a few things I need to pick up." Xander replied as he walked up to the back door, "A sack full of clothes, a few books, my money and some medicine. Nothing that'll be too difficult to take back to the mansion one way or another."

Most of what Xander said seemed perfectly normal for a mutant on the run as in most cases it paid to travel light and stick to the essentials. However it was the mention of 'medicine' that got a raised eyebrow from her since she couldn't think of what sort he could be taking that only Dr. Strange could provide. After all the man dealt in sorcery more than he did modern medicine and aside from some exotic not widely known herbal remedies or the like she wasn't sure what else the Sorcerer Supreme had to offer.

"You sick or something sugah?" she asked in the hope of getting even a crumb of info on the medicine the newest tenant of the X-Mansion wanted.

"Let's just say that using my powers comes with a price tag and the medicine acts like a 70 discount deal." Xander replied as he knocked on the door of Strange's home.

While not a satisfactory answer the info he gave her was enough to sate her curiosity for the moment. She knew that there were mutants who needed specialized equipment or gear in order to safely use their powers but near as she could recall only a few of them had powers that seriously harmed the body producing them. It was a given assumption among most people who knew of mutants thought that their bodies were naturally configured to be able to handle their powers. Usually difficulties only popped up when the mutant's powers proved to be too wild or too powerful to control resulting in an increase in the wear and tear of the body. Was that the situation with Xander? If the blast of black flame he fired in the Antarctic was any hint it was certainly a possibility given how it destroyed Nanny and her army of cyborgs all in one go. Still she'd be sure to pass along the info to Storm and Cyclops when they got back to the mansion. She might personally see the kid as a friend and a good addition to the residents of 1407 Graymalkin Lane but she'd experienced enough in her time as an X-Man to be careful. Things were almost never what they seemed to be these days and being careful could mean the difference between life and death.

With a click and a pull the back door opened to reveal Wong, Stephen Strange's aide and confidant, with his usual polite expression and perfect manners.

"Ah Alexander! Dr. Strange has been expecting you and awaits your presence in the library." Wong said with a bow before turning to face her, "You are welcome to go with him of course Rogue."

"Thanks Wong." Rogue said and with that she and Xander entered the house following the Asian man as he led them both to the appropriate room.

As she walked through the various hallways and up the steps along their path she couldn't help but look around and try to figure out the mystery that was the house of the Sorcerer Supreme. She knew it looked like an ordinary building both on the outside and on the inside but again appearances could be deceiving. A person's home ultimately reflected their personality and occupation in the end after all. While she could see numerous scrolls and books along with a few unidentifiable knick-knacks she knew she was just seeing the surface, the icing, rather than the true depths of what was there. Much like a dream nothing was what it seemed and rules that governed what was or wasn't possible in the real world didn't necessarily apply within Dr. Strange's home.

Upon entering the library she saw that the Sorcerer Supreme wasn't in the best of moods today and the cause for the foul temperament had just walked into the room ahead of her. She wasn't sure why Stephen was angry but apparently something Xander had or hadn't done had left the sorcerer decidedly annoyed. Interested in what the conflict was all about she hoped they wouldn't do the 'guy' thing and try to act like nothing was wrong.

"Hey, what's up, doc?" Xander asked doing a poor, on purpose, imitation of Bugs Bunny.

"You've been tapping rather deeply into Kung Lung's power." Strange stated in a matter of fact kind of way rather than as a reply to Golden Eyes' question.

"Yeah well there wasn't a whole lot I could do about that Doc." Xander said dropping all attempts at false humor, "When you hang out with the X-Men things kinda find a way of happening."

The Sorcerer Supreme sighed in annoyed agreement that the southern native couldn't exactly dispute as the people wearing the X symbol did seem cursed to live in interesting times. Still at least Stephen's feelings towards Xander were more of the 'doctor-annoyed-at-the-patient-who-won't-do-as-he's-told' nature rather than something more serious.

"Indeed. I take it you're here for another allotment of the potion?" Strange asked as he began walking towards a nearby table where a metal box the size of your average clock radio sat.

"And my stuff. The X-Men have offered me a place to stay so me and my roomie here decided to spin by and pick up my stuff." Xander replied thumbing in her direction, "You can keep my Sports Illustrated swimsuit calendar Doc. I have a feeling where I'll be staying there will be more than enough eye candy to keep me happy!"

Strange rolled his eyes at this but for Rogue she felt an amused grin stretch across her face at Xander's effort to lighten the mood and turn things away from Stephen's light anger at him. The boy had a mouth on him almost as bad as Bobby or Remy but she doubted he had much experience duking it out with big league players. That thought in mind she decided to have some fun herself if only for the potential reactions she might get from the sorcerer and the dragon eyed kid.

"Well sugah I'll be sure 'n keep that in mind." Rogue said in perfect deadpan, "'Course if 'n you're gonna be admirin' me by the lake I'll be expecting ya to be wearin' something **interesting** too. Fair is fair after all."

The look on Xander's face was priceless.

&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&

_One Hour Later, The Streets of New York_

_Note to self: matching wits with Rogue is like trying to outsmart Willow._ Xander thought as he handed some cash over to the restaurant cashier, _Trying will only make the Xan-man look stupid._

After the two of them had finished packing his things, minus the calendar he really had, he had suggested they take a spin by a restaurant to get some breakfast. The Southern Belle had pointed out that they weren't exactly dressed for mingling with the public but that problem had been fixed easily enough. After rooting through the dresser that Doc Strange had told him he could use for the duration of his stay he managed to find a short-sleeved T-Shirt and a pair of jeans that she could wear. She was only a few inches shorter than he was so it wouldn't be obvious to people walking down the street that the clothes weren't hers. They'd just think that she liked the baggy look or something and keep on walking by without any further thought. One of the first things that Xander had done the day after Halloween was replace all the clothes that had gone up in flames thanks to those pyro-freak Kung Lung followers. That meant a set of clothes for every day of the week plus at least two extra just in case he had to do some unscheduled demon slayage.

Once the problem of clothes was dealt with the only ammo she had left had been that she had already had breakfast. He pointed out though that despite his questionable eating habits back in high school he had never once considered coffee and croissant a suitable breakfast especially if it came from one of those chain coffee and donut places. That led to a meal at a nearby restaurant that was still running off its morning/breakfast menu and him ordering a stack of pancakes. For Rogue it seemed that eggs, bacon and a piece of toast was what she considered a proper breakfast though it could just as easily be her deciding to exploit his generosity. After all he was the one with over two thousand dollars to his name and in his pocket right at that moment. Still the time spent while eating was fun as they talked about all the news that they had come across after leaving Doc Strange's place.

One thing about walking around a big industrious city like New York was you couldn't look anywhere without some form of news faring media staring right back at you. From what he had been able to gather from the newspaper headlines his pal Pete was up to his neck in trouble with no easy way out. That snake Normon Osborn was back and had somehow convinced the Daily Bugle into putting a million dollar bounty on the web-slinger's head for a supposedly 'unprovoked' attack. Xander didn't buy it for a moment and knew that the monster must have orchestrated it somehow. Add to that the return of Doc Ock and a chapter of the Friends of Humanity opening on E.S.U campus and clearly the Big Apple had gone downhill since he last walked down these streets. He made a mental note to pay Pete and M.J a visit in Queens before heading back to the X-Mansion with Rogue.

He was just about to bring up the unspoken reason why he had chosen Rogue to fly him into the city rather than Storm or Joseph when he heard a thunderous crash and the sound of several car alarms going off at once. Looking to Rogue she nodded her head once in agreement before they both ran towards the commotion the both of them easily recognizing the sounds of a super powered battle. It took a left and then a right but in no time they arrived at the scene of the fight and found out what was going on.

The super serial killer Carnage was fighting Spider-man.

"Looks like the wall-crawler could use a hand." He said as he passed the bags he was carrying to Rogue, "Stash these someplace safe and then join in. I'm going to see what I can do to take some of the pressure of the web head."

Nodding once before flying off, he was almost surprised that she would take orders from him without putting up a fuss. After all he wasn't an X-Man and despite the time they had spent together helping the Shi'ar he seriously doubted he had done anything to merit such trust and obedience. Still he had no time to consider it any further as Pete looked like he was getting his tights wearing butt handed to him. Charging towards the battleground he summoned his armor, not caring who saw the change, and began to draw on Kung Lung's power to increase his strength, speed and agility so that it at least matched if not surpassed Spider-Man's. As he reached the edge of the parking lot he noticed three men hiding behind cars apparently treating the entire struggle like a day at the racetrack. It was a few moments later that his suspicions were confirmed as the three civilians spoke their mind.

"Are you guys crazy? **MAKE TRACKS!**" Said one guy who was looking at the other two like they needed professional help, "Carnage won't hesitate to take out a few bystanders!"

"Yeah, but we're gambling he'll cap Spidey and leave the body." Said the second guy with anticipation of the event he described.

"That way **we** can collect the Bugle's reward!" Said the third guy obviously already counting the one million dollars.

_Assholes!_ Xander growled as he leapt past them into the battleground proper, _After all the times Pete has saved their lives and the lives of everyone in this city they still treat him like crap!_

"You **hear** those guys, Spideroonie!" Carnage asked maniacally as he shoved his clawed hands through the car windows the wall crawler had blocked with his body half a second earlier, "They're looking to **profit** from your death. Me, I'm a purist! A dedicated craftsman! **I KILL FOR THE SHEER JOY OF IT!**"

With that Carnage threw the car over his shoulder and towards the three morons who were only beginning to realize the danger heading their way. Despite the fact that his inner Xan-man was telling him the world would be a better place with those three gone from it he knew there was only one thing to do. Jumping into the air he clasped his hands together before delivering a thunderous axe-handle to the car sending it back towards the psychotic symbiote killer. Not expecting this move in the least, Carnage didn't notice the incoming mass of metal until it was too late and it slammed into him. Fortunately Spidey had been in a better position to see the car coming and had gotten out of the way just in the nick of time. Landing by his side the web slinger looked surprised to see him so Xander decided to do the first thing that came to mind.

"I didn't like the color." He said pointing at the car he had slammed down on Carnage.

A shift beneath Pete's mask easily told him that the wall crawler's eyes were quirked and a grin was on his face. That was all they had time for though since a second later four tentacles of red and black goop snaked out from beneath the car, clamped down on it, then tore it in two. Apparently Mr. Santa Claws didn't like the car either and decided to make sure the automobile was never used again by anyone. Carnage took a moment to revel in the destruction he had caused before settling the masses of white that passed for eyes on his enemies.

"You should've butt out kid! This ain't no Saturday morning cartoon show and no half-assed Ranger outfit is gonna keep me from playing with yer guts." Carnage said both with deadly intent and mocking contempt for Xander's armor.

"Better to be mistaken for a Ranger than an action figure that's been on a hotplate too long!" Xander growled as once again Strange's choice of armor design resulted in him being compared to a Power Ranger.

"Oooohhhhh! Nice one!" Carnage said with false respect before lunging forward, "Now it's my turn to cut you to the quick… or to the bone… whichever comes first."

The serial killing symbiotic only got about halfway to his intended targets before out of nowhere something slammed into his side, hurling him into the side of a dumpster almost hard enough to tear it in two. Xander didn't even need to look to know who had executed the attack but look he did anyways and was somewhat puzzled to find Rogue hovering in mid-air with what looked like some gymnasts wool leggings on her arms. However it took only a second for him to come up with a reason why since he quickly remembered what her mutant power was and how it worked. Rogue had the ability to absorb a person's memories, personality, abilities and super powers into herself through skin-to-skin contact. Given who it was they were dealing with he could understand why she'd take some precautionary steps against absorbing anything from Carnage.

"Is this a private party fellas or can anyone join in?" She asked rhetorically much like how Buffy did when she chose to reveal herself to an unsuspecting vampire.

"Sure thing lady! The more the merrier!" Carnage yelled as he let loose a volley of arrowheads from his skin at the southern girl.

So quick were the weapons cutting through the air that the woman with the striped hair barely managed to escape the brunt of the barrage with only two darts actually doing any damage at all and which was only to the leggings on her arms. Deciding he didn't want the psycho to get on a roll Xander headed for him in a random but always forward moving pattern. He knew that he was still new to this superhero gig and that against a killing machine like Carnage his first mistake could be his last. His only hope would be to deliver some devastating blows up front and hope that that softened him up enough for Pete or Rogue to finish the job. Seeing a flicker of movement coming from his target he darted to the side with all the speed he could muster and barely managed to evade a tentacle no doubt sent with the intention of piercing his armor in a vital area. Upon closing to striking distance he decided to do something Carnage wouldn't be expecting from someone in the superhero set and extended the talons/claws that tipped his fingers and thumbs. Then, with two crisscrossing slashes, he used them to cut into the body of the mentally unhinged maniac in the hopes of getting to the person beneath the symbiotic.

"YYYYIIIIEAAAHHHHRRRR!" Carnage screamed in pain before delivering a vicious backhand that sent Xander flying until the former Zeppo slammed through a car's roof and into the brick wall in front of the car.

"Looks like my plan worked." Xander muttered a little groggily as he tried to shake off the haze caused by both the backhand and hitting the wall, "Lucky me!"

Sliding off the hood of the car he looked to see exactly what effect his attack had on the killer and was somewhat gratified to see that Carnage was a little less mobile and unless he was imagining things was protecting his torso from attacks. However the maniac also didn't seem discouraged at all or have any intention of fleeing which confirmed the theory Xander had gone in with. While it was indeed possible to seriously harm Carnage his symbiote half either rapidly healed or minimized the wound's impact on the madman's fighting capabilities. If that was indeed the case then all that was needed was to inflict a wound serious enough to incapacitate Carnage but not so serious that the symbiote would be unable to preserve its human half's life. Not exactly something someone like him could easily do considering he didn't know the extent of the symbiote's healing factor nor what it would take to push it to just shy of its limits.

_Only one way to find out!_ He thought as he charged forward to where Rogue and Spidey were using the old 'decoy and attack' strategy against crimson crazy kook.

Grabbing the remains of a car's fender he thrust it forward with the intention of slamming it into his target's gut and knocking the wind out of him. However just like he figured the super powered killer saw the attack coming and sent two tentacles out from his body to cut the piece of metal straight down the middle no doubt with the intended end result being impaling Xander through the chest. Modifying his plan he leapt into the air just high enough to clear the fender being split in two before preparing to bring his talons down in another slashing attack. Unfortunately, like certain Anime ninjas, Kasady wasn't about to fall victim to the same move twice and with his right hand grabbed and threw Rogue into the descending armored figure sending both of them to the ground. Normally Xander would have waited until his head had cleared a little more before moving but seeing a blurry red object heading quickly at the two of them he just reacted instinctively. Grabbing Rogue by the shoulders he leapt as high as he could into the air in order to avoid the incoming attack. Looking down as he felt the upward momentum begin to die he was glad that he had such good instincts because it had just saved him and the vivacious X-woman from getting a rod of red and black goop put through them.

"Thanks sugah." Rogue replied taking control of their flight plans with her own flying ability.

"No problem, lovely lady." Xander said in his best polite cowboy voice, "Now what's say we teach Mr. Ketchup face some manners."

With a grin as her only reply Rogue began to descend rapidly towards Carnage like a dive-bomber on an attack run. The wall crawler was doing an okay job but it was clear that Pete wasn't making any headway on putting the maniac down for good. Xander knew that that was largely due to the whole 'refusal to kill' rule that the wall crawler followed religiously every time he put on his costume. After all in every almost objective newspaper and media broadcast he had seen involving the web slinger Spider-Man never really cut loose with his strength. It was like he started out at a pre-determined level and then upped it as the situation dictated. While this might seem reasonable it also meant that a battle would take longer than it should have because Spidey took so much time trying to give an exactly measured attack to his enemy. Not that going all out every time was the smart way to go or anything since overkill was possible and it would mean an enemy could get your measure quickly but there had to be some middle ground between all out and half-assed.

"Hey Rogue? How good is your throwing arm?" Xander asked as an idea for an attack came together in his head.

"I can throw a mean fastball if that's what ya'all're talkin' about." Rogue replied casually as she almost immediately picked up on what her passenger wanted.

"Then get ready to bring the heat, 'cause I'm going in!" Xander said as he brought his fists up in a classic Superman flying pose.

With a quick wind up Rogue threw him through the air at Carnage and, like the missile he was attempting to imitate, he slammed into Carnage knocking him hard to the ground. Rolling with the left over energy from the X-woman's throw, he did his best to get clear just in case the attack had less of an effect than he'd expected. However Lady Luck was smiling on them as it turned out that the forceful impact of one armored Xander combined with the slashes that hadn't completely healed yet left Cletus sluggish.

_Better deliver the knockout punch before Crazy-boy here recovers enough to turn us all into red confetti!_ Xander thought as he prepared for one final attack run in the hopes of finishing the battle.

Unfortunately Carnage saw what was coming and did the thing that all bad guys did when their defeat and/or capture is seconds away: throw something big at innocent bystanders and run. In this instance it was a pick-up truck and what was left of the dumpster Rogue had knocked him into earlier. Between nailing Carnage and saving innocent bystanders there was really no choice and as one unit he, Rogue and Spider-man moved to intercept the heavy objects. The webhead managed to snag the dumpster with his webbing and a combined effort between Rogue and him managed to stop the truck and set it down more or less gently. Of course the owner might be a little cross at them for leaving handprints and talon holes in his truck for all to see. Fortunately with his armor obscuring his face and Rogue's… attributes… distracting men from her face he figured that they could safely escape prosecution for the damage.

With civilians out of harms way all three super powered beings turned her eyes back to where they had seen Carnage last and growled in frustration to find that he was gone. Running, leaping and in Rogue's case flying back to where the serial killing psycho symbiote was last they all looked around for some clue as to where he had gone. After a few minutes of looking though it looked like Kasady had decided to practice some stealth and caution for the first time in his life and had vanished without a trace. Even using Kung Lung's power to enhance his visual range didn't yield any helpful clues leaving him to growl in frustration that such an evil being had managed to get away.

"Don't worry Dragon-boy." Spider-Man said placing a comforting hand in his shoulder, "If I had a nickel for every time a super crook got away from me I'd be one very rich web-slinger. Now we'd better make ourselves scarce before the men in blue show up, because for some reason I'm not too popular with them right now."

"Yeah. See you at your place later okay?" Xander asked covertly conveying that he'd be taking a spin past the Parker home in the next hour or so.

"Sure. We'll grab a few beers and play five things connected to Jennifer Love Hewett." Spider-man replied with a thumbs-up before shooting a webline up to an overhanging stone gargoyle and took off swinging.

"We better get goin' too sugah." Rogue said as she picked him up by the armpits and lifted him into the air, "We might not have a million dollar bounty on our heads but that don't mean they won't take us in for free."

"Yeah but that's not what's worrying me right now." Xander said as he and the X-woman ascended to rooftop level.

"It's not?" Rogue asked more than a little surprised.

"No I'm worried about whether or not my stuff is still where you left it." Xander replied sounding perfectly serious, "You know you can't leave anything alone in this city for more than a few minutes or it's gonna get swiped by someone."

&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&

_Front Porch of the Parker Home, Queens, New York, One and a Half Hours Later_

"Are you sure its okay for be here Xander?" Rogue asked as she casually looked about the outside of the Parker home.

"Don't worry! I may not have been invited to any backyard Parker barbecues but we've talked often enough at the Daily Grind that they know they can trust me and by proxy you." Xander replied as he knocked solidly on the front door while thinking, _I hope! Otherwise I'm gonna have some 'splaining to do._

The truth of the matter was he wasn't quite sure where he stood with Pete and M.J given that the only times he had ever really seen them in the past was when they spun by the Daily Grind to talk or meet up with Ben. Sure they occasionally got into a conversation, in some cases because Ben wanted to avoid replying to a question and so diverted it to him instead, but outside of the restaurant there had been nothing. Add to that that he wasn't sure how much Pete had told his wife and his Aunt Anna Watson about his recuse of little May and he could be a few seconds away from either a hug or an awkward moment. Turning his attention back to the door he could hear footsteps approaching and a second later the door opened to reveal the stunning redhead that was Mary Jane Watson-Parker. Momentarily knocked for a look by her beauty the former Zeppo had to wonder how Pete had managed to win the heart of a woman who had been both a professional model and actress. Whatever it was Peter was definitely one lucky man and he'd consider himself lucky if he managed to have a girlfriend half as beautiful as her much less marry such a knockout.

"Hey MJ! How'er you—ooommmppphh?" Xander began to ask but before he could complete his question the ravishing redhead in front of him dove at him.

With arms wrapped tightly wrapped around him in a hug and a kiss on the lips he almost lost his balance which would have landed the two of them on the front walkway in a heap. Thankfully Rogue was there to steady him and when the unexpected show of affection ended he had two things on his mind: a) what was **that** for? And b) What'll Pete do if he finds out?

"Wha… why… **huh**?" Was all he could get out to try and figure out why MJ had done what she did.

"Relax Kevin." MJ replied with a knowing smile as she likely had a good idea what sort of thoughts were running through his head at the moment, "I just wanted to thank you for rescuing May and bringing her back to me and Peter."

Visibly relaxing at this all concerns over a possible confrontation with Pete vanishing like smoke he tried to ease back into his usual casual manner.

"Though to be honest you're not a half bad kisser." MJ commented with a mischievous glint in her eye.

This left him stumbling for words again and he could see out of the corner of his eyes that Rogue was enjoying his predicament immensely and it was only will power and the desire not to cause him further embarrassment that kept her from laughing out loud. He'd get her for that later. Maybe put some platinum blonde hair dye in her shampoo so that skunk stripe of hers wouldn't stand out quite as much. Perfect!

"Should I be worried MJ?" asked Pete as he walked into sight wearing jeans and a T-shirt.

"Don't worry Tiger. Compared to you, he's strictly an amateur." MJ replied half seriously as she gave her husband a kiss with more passion behind it.

_I don't know if I should be yelling 'HEY!' right now or just be thankful that Peter isn't taking what happened too seriously._ Xander thought with a mix of emotions.

"Come on in Kevin." Pete said as he invited both him and Rogue in with a wave, "There's someone else here that I think wants to thank you too."

Stepping into the house he found it to be the very picture of a family home with furniture and decorations that seemed to embody what a husband and wife would want to raise their child in. Some things like the TV looked a little out of date but given Pete's job as a freelance photographer for the Bugle and the fact that MJ dropped out of the public spotlight awhile back and he doubted they had money to spare on a new one. Still it was leagues above his burnt down apartment and even if he and the X-Men pinched every penny of his two thousand dollars to restock the mansion it wouldn't come close to this. Following the two Parkers into the living room he was greeted with a sight that made him smile before he even realized that his mouth had moved. Laying in one of those baby seats on the couch and looking like she was making a detailed survey of the entire living room with her eyes was one little May Parker. The baby hadn't changed that much from when he had seen her last, maybe a little more brown hair, but it was clear to him that she was right where she belonged.

Kneeling down in front of the couch and looking into the infant's eyes he could swear he saw the first sparks of her father's sense of humor but in the looks department he had a feeling she'd take after her mom. Waving a finger in front of the child's face he watched as May tracked the digit closely before amazingly enough grasping it in her tiny hands.

"Looks like she's happy to meet you sugah." Rogue said clearly ensnared by the 'awww' atmosphere all babies seem to have around themselves.

"Well strictly speaking this isn't the first time we've met." Xander said offhand without really thinking what he was saying through, "Not that she'd remember the flight to Doc Strange's place or the time she spent in my old apartment."

"Well I know what we can do about that little problem." Peter said with a tone in his voice that immediately had Xander turning his head to look at him, "How would you like to be an honorary uncle to little May?"

"I'd say 'huh?' is what I'd say." Xander said as he extracted his finger from the baby's grasp and stood up.

"Well you did rescue her and return her to us. Plus with our visits to the Daily Grind and what Ben told us we're practically friends already so 'uncle' wouldn't be that big a stretch." Pete replied sounding somewhat hopeful that Xander/Kevin would accept the new title.

When the little sounds of an unhappy baby began to fill the air everyone in the room looked down to see a cross little May glaring at Xander.

"Besides it looks like May has already grown attached to you." MJ stated with a giggle of amusement as her firstborn reached with chubby hands towards Xander/Kevin.

"Looks like you're outvoted, sugah." Rogue said grinning at his predicament.

With a sigh he knelt back down and wiggled his finger in front of little May until she grabbed it again. Naturally once she had the intriguing digit in her hands all sounds of anger and unhappiness vanished leaving the child content and occupied. That pretty much clinched it. He had been all set a few moments ago to graciously turn down their offer on the grounds that his lifestyle didn't exactly allow for regular visits to his 'niece'. However when the child in question voiced her own opinion and desire that he stick around and be her uncle then there was little he could do but accept his fate.

"Alright I'll be the uncle to this little rugrat." Xander said as he used his superior strength to guide little May's hand this way and that, "But that being the case I think you should know that Kevin Lancaster was just an alias I've been using. My real name is Xander Harris."

While the Parker's were a little puzzled there wasn't a hint of fear in their eyes.

"Why'd you go by Kevin then?" Pete asked with genuine curiousity even though he unconsciously took up a defensive posture.

Deciding that it would be easier to just show them than to go through the whole 'Origins' tale he reached up and removed the sunglasses that hid his eyes from sight. They were a little shocked at first, understandable considering what his exposed eyes implied, but eventually they settled back into the casual state they had been in before and gave reassuring smiles.

"Well that certainly explains a few things." Pete said like someone who found out why beer seemed to mysteriously vanish from the fridge.

"It doesn't change things though." MJ said making it clear she didn't care if he was a 'mutant' or not, "After all with Peter as her father I doubt having you as her uncle would be all that crazy."

"No I guess not." Xander said as he conceded that having Spider-Man as a dad would make having a 'mutant' uncle not all that odd, "So how about you guys tell me what I've missed since I went traveling last December."

Peter took the lead with the summary of the past few months starting with his adventure with Doc Strange and some funky magic orb thing. Then the sudden return of the Stacy family, a member of which Pete dated back in his university days before hooking up with MJ, with a look on the photographer's face that said he was uncomfortable with that family being around. From there the return of Doc Ock was discussed with Xander not liking the idea of there being a cult of ninjas out there capable of bringing dead bad guys back to life. Given the sort of baddies he and the Scooby gang put in the ground he was not liking the idea that they could be brought back for the right price. He noticed that they all studiously avoided the topic of Osborn's return and the one million dollar bounty on Spidey's head. Not that he could blame them as he didn't much want the thought of that monster souring the mood a spoiling the enjoyable get together. There would be time enough to devise ways of bringing that devil down later and preferably when the women weren't present to hear the horrific details.

Eventually though it was time to get going as he had one more thing to do before he and Rogue headed back to the X-mansion.

"Well it's been great talking with you guys again but me and Rogue have some shopping to do and need to get to the nearest mall before it closes." Xander said as he got out of the chair he'd been sitting in.

"What sort of shopping sugah?" Rogue asked clearly clueless about what he was up to which of course was the way he wanted it.

"Well last night before hitting the sack I got to thinking that Cal's going to be here awhile until they repair her way home and sent a transport for her." Xander replied trying not to give too much away, "Given that I don't even want to **imagine** what cabin fever will do to a woman like her I figured getting her some clothes would let her roam about without drawing attention to herself. After all purple armor and a tiara would be pretty hard even for the densest person to miss."

"Mighty thoughtful of ya Xander. Ah assume you picked me to fly ya here so I could help pick somethin' out for her?" Rogue asked with some unknown wariness in her voice.

"Yep. I mean you look like you're about the same height and build as her so what fits you should fit her as well." Xander replied choosing to ignore the odd tone in her voice, "I figure it shouldn't take more than an hour to get her enough clothes for a week."

"You really think it'll just take an hour to choose out Cal's wardrobe?" Rogue asked with the wariness going up a notch.

"Sure. A couple of T-shirts here, some ladies boxers there and some jeans to round things out and we'll be done." He replied as though it was perfectly obvious what to get.

However when he looked at the disappointed look on Rogue's face and the offended look on MJ's he knew something was up.

"What?" He asked since he had no clue why they were looking at him like that.

"Xander, you're still young, so I can understand why you'd think that it'd take only an hour to shop for the clothes 'Cal' would need." MJ said as she walked up next to him and placed an understanding hand on his left shoulder.

"The thing is sugah is that we women put a little more thought into shoppin' than you guys do." Rogue said as she walked up to him and put a hand on his right shoulder, "An' while Cal' might not be from around these here parts I'm sure she feels the same way."

"Right. So I guess me and your lady friend here will have to go with you to make sure you pick out the right stuff for 'Cal'" MJ said before looking up at Rogue and asking, "He does have enough money right?"

"Over two grand if I heard him right." Rogue replied with an unsettling grin, "Think it'll be enough?"

It was about then that Xander's warning bells began to go off and his mind got an idea of what was about to happen to him.

"Barely! But I know a half dozen places where we can get a bargain discount if we drop my name to the right people." MJ said before both she and Rogue began to guide him towards the front door, "By the time we're done Cal' will be fully stocked and accessorized."

"Pete! HELP!" Xander exclaimed as he looked beseechingly at his one male hope of escaping this grisly fate.

"Sorry bud! But someone has to stay here and look after little May." Peter said with a smile on his face saying he was enjoying every minute of his friend's plight, "Besides, better you than me."

"Traitor," he muttered before resigning himself to his fate.

_I hope they'll leave me at least a few dollars!_ Xander thought as he and the two women exited the house, _I should've known better than to mention shopping in front of two women!_


	13. Bad and Fresh Starts

_**One Week Later, X-Mansion, Kitchen, Morning**_

_Man! Am I glad Mr. Peterson is willing to give newbies such flexible hours!_ Xander thought as he walked down the hall towards the 'fridge'.

In reality though the mansion's fridge was actually a pair of coolers that everyone had managed to buy with what money they could scrounge up either from their bank accounts or by pawning off whatever else they could find on the property itself. It hadn't been until his third night of sleeping on the floor that he'd really understood just how in the poorhouse the X-Men were at the moment. Sure the coins that Storm had hidden away would fetch some decent cash once the right buyer was found and sure there was talk about getting a loan of sorts from Mr. Winged-Smurf, but that didn't change the facts surrounding the mansion's current state. Apparently some government flunky named Bastion had launched a massive anti-mutant campaign called 'Operation Zero Tolerance' and had chosen the X-Men as his first targets. He'd captured the core team and invaded the mansion to steal everything he could get his hands on, leaving only the building itself behind. All the furniture, appliances, personal possessions and even the **frickin' wallpaper** had been taken or otherwise destroyed. Basically it was what you'd expect to see just after a construction crew finished work on a building and not one bit more. Most of the X-folk he'd talked to assured him that it wouldn't take more than a month to get the living areas and such back to normal but that the lower levels would take more time. That was where they had kept some of their more hi-tech toys and stuff that, unfortunately, were mostly custom jobs or one of a kind, so finding and buying replacements would not be easy to do.

To help out the best he could he had gone into town, a place called Salem Center, and started hunting for a job. The others had said that he didn't have to (with the exception of Bobby) but he had insisted, stating that he wanted to pull his own weight instead of mooching off of them. Fortunately Logan had been able to point him in the direction of some employers that wouldn't be overly thorough in checking out his references so, in under a day, he'd managed to get some work at a local diner. It wasn't the Daily Grind but beggars couldn't afford to be choosers given the way things were and it gave him something to contribute to the rest of the group living at the mansion.

Fortunately, though, word of how bad things were at the mansion had trickled down to the town and so the owner of the diner was willing to cut his newest employee some slack. He only had today off before he'd have to head back to work and work five days straight, but still it was a nice thing to be able to have a boss that actually noticed when one of his people was in a tough spot. At the moment though, his mind was not centered on his new job or pulling his weight around the mansion but it did have to do with his stomach and the fact that it was currently empty. That feeling had, of course, set him on a course for the two cooler 'fridge' where a supply of cold cuts and bread could be found for him to make a small sandwich out of. Entering the kitchen, he came upon a sight that almost made him turn around and be someplace else until the room was a little less occupied, but he was spotted by the other tenant before he could make a getaway so he had little choice but to proceed with his original plan.

"Morning Cal'." He said to the regent of the Shi'ar Empire, who he'd caught trying to figure out what went into making a sandwich and what was meant for something else entirely.

The woman of the house Neramani immediately put the bottle of ketchup down and tried to put on her best regal 'I am superior to you in every way' attitude but he doubted either of them bought the act. Looking at the clothes she was wearing, he was glad to see that she had managed to choose articles of clothing that actually went together well enough to blend into human society. The bird lady had been rendered almost completely speechless when Rogue and him had returned from the big city bearing gifts but quickly made it clear how 'pitiful' the clothes were and how she would consider it a trial to endure wearing them at all. Seeing her in jeans, a sweatshirt and socks at that moment, though, he could tell that she was not nearly as uncomfortable in them as she had claimed she would be. He just wrote it down as another sign of the woman needing to feel better than the people of Earth and not get too attached to anything. After all, she wouldn't be here forever and, sooner or later, she was going to be able to catch a ride back to the Empire. She no doubt believed that she needed to stay sharp and distrusting of others so as not to be caught off guard once things returned to the business as usual state of her trying to run her little kingdom.

_I can't believe I'm actually saying this, but I think I'm actually going to miss her when she leaves._ He thought to himself as he selected two slices of bread, some roast beef and grabbed the bottle of mustard.

"Good morning terran." Deathbird replied, making it sound like she was reading from a cue card, "Although I cannot conceive of how it could be considered good considering my current surroundings."

"Maybe you could see this as a chance to practice your infiltration skills?" He asked half-seriously half humorously as he put the finishing touches on his sandwich, "Think of this as training for a deep cover mission on a primitive world with one of your objectives being to pretend to be a native."

"I would never **go** on such a **mission,** terran." Cal'Syee said with disdain and contempt at his attempt to help improve her mood, "That is why I have underlings."

"Well you don't have 'em now Cal' so I suggest you give operation 'pretend to be a normal terran' a try or else you're just going to make everyone around you miserable and yourself even more miserable." He said trying to make the woman see that sulking wasn't going to help matters any.

"As if I should care how the rest of you feel!" Deathbird declared with the stereotypical regal nose in the air pose.

"Considering you don't have another place to stay and don't really know of anyone on Earth willing to put up with your attitude, I think you should care **a lot**." He said as he began to feel his patience starting to weaken.

"You and the other X-Men should feel grateful that one such as I have deigned to live here among you." Deathbird said with a voice as cold as a glacier, "Besides which, the mutants owe me for the loss of my ship and stranding me here on this pathetic world!"

"How the **hell** do you figure tha-" Xander began to ask but before he could complete his sentence a sound akin to a miniature rocket being launched filled the air and seemed to travel up from below ground level before reaching a spot above the mansion and then flying off.

Quickly moving over to a window that he thought would let him see what had just taken off from the mansion basement he was able to spot the signs of a flaming comet flying away from the mansion property at high speed. He was immediately able to identify the phenomena as the X-Man Cannonball, aka Sam Guthrie, even though he had never actually seen the young man employ his powers. He had seen the Kentucky boy on his way to the kitchen and from what he'd seen the blonde boy had been debating whether or not to extend the proverbial olive branch to one of the other newbie tenants named Marrow. Truth be told he had been thinking along the same lines himself since it made sense for the new tenants in the building to stick together and it might help get rid of her mad on for Remy. While the former Morlock hadn't made any obvious attempts to gut Gambit it was more due to a lack of acceptable opportunities than absent desire. Of all the people in the mansion the girl of many bones had the most reason to hate the Cajun and want him dead. The Morlocks had been her people and she probably knew most if not all of the ones that had been killed by the Mauraders. While he hoped that a part of her had understood and accept his theory concerning the massacre he knew she saw the crimson eyed X-Man as an acceptable substitute in place of one of someone like Sabretooh or Sinister himself. He had been reasonably certain that if he could manage to get her to desert the 'kill Remy' club all the other members would follow. However reasoning with a girl who'd like nothing better than to kick his teeth in was hard work so he'd decided to get something to eat first before heading down to the basement.

_Apparently Sam got to her before me._ He thought as he began to walk towards the staircase that would take him to the basement where Marrow usually hung out, _Though given how honest cornbread usually acts I'd have thought he'd have lasted longer than that._

"Well, have a good morning if possible Cal'." He said as he wolfed down the last of his sandwich, "I'm gonna go see what lit Cannonball's fuse."

Getting out of his chair he walked to the stairs that would take him to where the Morlock named Marrow had decided to settle down but before he could start down Storm appeared looking quite troubled. It took him less than a second to connect Sam's violent departure with the snow-haired woman's current mood and he figured they had some kind of disagreement where Marrow was concerned. From what he'd seen since he'd walked into this mansion, the two mutants had some serious history between them and it looked like Ororo at least didn't want anyone playing peacemaker. Considering the volatile temperament of Ms. BoneHead and the nasty looks he'd caught the weather witch sending to the Morlock, he knew that something had to be done before things got violent as well as messy.

"Hey Storm! What's up?" He asked trying to sound like he hadn't seen Guthrie tear out of the place or the troubled look on her face, "Besides the sky I mean."

Just as he had hoped, his cheerful inquiry got a small grin out of her before the storm clouds rolled back in and gloom girl returned. Seeing that whatever was wrong obviously had the lady in a chokehold he decided to up his clowning level another notch in an effort to improve her mood and hopefully resolve whatever problem had just reared its ugly head.

"Nothing you need worry yourself over Alexander." Ororo replied as she put on a pretty poor 'I am fine' look on her face, "Samuel and I had a… disagreement concerning how to best deal with Marrow. He intended to try and extend an offering of peace to her but I strongly advised him against doing so. He did not take my suggestion very well."

_So basically you had your opinion and went all Queenie on him when he tried to argue his._ Xander thought as he easily saw between the lines, _Time to get her to really take a serious look at another point of view._

"Well I know I'm new to this place an' all, but it can't be easy for him to go toe to toe with you over something that has you seriously wigged out." He said keeping reason in his tone and neutrality in his voice, "I mean you're pretty much the head honcho here since Scott left which means you're going to be setting the pace here 'til he and Jean get back. Maybe Sam just thought that the rest of the team might have more of a say in how things go in this place."

"I am perfectly willing to consider any suggestions Samuel might have **except** those dealing with Marrow! He does not realize just how dangerous she is nor how little she would heed what he had to say!" Storm exclaimed in restrained anger since she clearly did not like what Xander was implying, "She is not like the rest of us. I was there when she was about to kill over a hundred people to further her terrorist agenda! She had cared nothing for the innocent lives she was about to take!"

"Well granted Sam probably has a hard time understanding where you're coming from since he wasn't there at the time, but maybe things have changed." He said trying to get her thinking more with her mind than with her anger towards Marrow, "After all, this must have happened awhile ago so maybe Bone Girl is willing to give a listen to what you have to say now."

"People like her do not change so easily Alexander." Ororo said, apparently understanding that he wanted to argue this rationally.

"Depends on whether or not they think they can change or that others will let them, Storm." He stated with some emphasis, "Some people are the way they are because they honestly don't think or even know that they can become someone better. Then again, maybe Marrow didn't listen to you back then because she was hearing things from the wrong person."

"What?" Ororo asked with a combination of confusion and surprise in her voice.

"Think about it, Storm. The Morlocks had been living in the tunnels under Manhattan for most or maybe even all their lives and that caused them to start thinking a certain way to survive. Marrow probably had to learn to defend herself pretty young and probably started hating 'upworlders' around the same time." Xander explained as he tried to lay out his thoughts efficiently, "So whenever you saw her last, all she probably saw was some 'pretty mutant' that had all the things she couldn't have because she couldn't fit in on the streets. It's like how some people who're just barely getting by in the lower-middle class look at the rich people. Do you think they want to hear any anything Mr. And Mrs. Moneybags has to say? Not likely."

"So you are saying that because I represent something Marrow has come to despise and distrust my words could not reach her?" Storm asked with a tone of genuine thoughtfulness in her voice.

"Well, I'm sure it's a little more complicated but yeah, basically, that'd be it." He replied not believing for one moment that anything about the Morlock girl was that simple, "Hell! Maybe the fact that she hasn't scurried back to her tunnels means she actually wants to learn something here. So just give her some special slack and keep an open mind, 'kay Storm?"

"I will consider it Alexander." Ororo said in a way that he knew meant he had given her some serious things to think about for the next little while.

&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&

_One Hour Later, Gambit's Room_

#KnockKnock#

"Door's open." Remy called out to whoever it was had come calling this time.

With casualness that was neither in a rush nor tentative the door opened up to reveal the one person that the Cajun could probably say he owed both his literal life to and a chance at keeping figurative life here at the X-Mansion. He hadn't been there personally when Xander had stepped up to the plate for him and tried to convince the others that he deserved a second chance, but the effects in the days afterwards could clearly be seen. Most of the others were now willing to give him a second chance despite what he had done, and those that still thought he should be tossed out of the mansion on his ass were unwilling to anger the others by acting on their beliefs. By the words of one young man, a newcomer to the mansion, his greatest fear since joining the X-Men had just been destroyed and the future was no longer filled with fear, but rather hope. Truth be told, the drastic change in the path he thought his future would take had left him a little stunned, but he was coping. However he was still wary about strolling around the grounds without a care in the world considering that 'second chance' didn't exactly mean 'we forget what you did'. They would still look at him and know what he did causing their looks to have a tinge of anger and, in some cases, hatred in them. That was what he could not handle at the moment, friendships now stained with the knowledge of what he'd been a part of, and so he chose to avoid them for the time being rather than interact.

_Looks like de time for hidin' be over though._ Remy thought as Xander sat himself down across from him.

"What's up Remy?" Xander asked trying to sound as upbeat and casual as possible, "You've been like a ghost in the place the last week or so, only showing up every once in awhile, and have been hiding in here almost all the time."

"Hasn' 'xactly been a friendly environment down dere, mon ami." Gambit replied keeping his emotions from showing, "Yer words may've convinced dem not to gut me, but dey still see me as someone who worked fer Sinister."

He could see the young man considering those words but knew that the reason he gave wouldn't deter the teen from trying to coax him out of the room. In the short time that he'd known the golden eyed boy, he'd come to understand that Xander often felt compelled to lighten a mood or play peacemaker when things got unpleasant.

"Well then, the only way to change that is to go out there and show them who you really are Remy." Xander said acting like the answer to changing the X-Men's attitude was obvious, "Hiding only lets'em make up whatever ideas they like about you. Besides I'm gonna need help if I'm gonna evade any more of Ice Cube's pranks."

Gambit had to smile a bit at that. For the past week since Xander had moved in, Bobby Drake had taken every opportunity to try and prank the teenage dragon-boy into leaving. Iceman apparently didn't like a newbie like Harris being able to exert such influence over the team such as when he convinced them to let the Cajun stay. 'Course the thief knew that the real reason Frosty was angry was because he probably thought that with Gambit gone, he'd have a clear route to Rogue. Off and on for years, the cool member of the X-Men had tried to get a romance started with the Southern Belle but each time the founding member of the X-Men thought he got close, a certain crimson eyed Cajun got in the way. The revelation about the Morlock Massacre must have looked like a serious opportunity since it was undoubtedly sufficient to cut any bond Rogue might have had with Gambit. However, thanks to Xander's speech and theory, not only was Remy still on the team but Rogue had apparently lost at least a third of the anger and disgust she'd felt after the trial in the Antarctic. He and Rogue weren't exactly cozy at the moment but there was hope that eventually things could get back to the way they'd once been.

_Not much hope but some._ He thought images both positive and negative of Rogue flew through his mind.

"I'll t'ink about it, mon ami." Remy declared hoping that that would be enough to appease the newest resident of the X-Mansion.

"Good. Now, do you have any ideas for getti--." Xander began to ask but before he could get a word out an animalistic howl unlike anything he'd ever heard before rang loud and clear throughout the mansion as well as a fair distance out onto the grounds.

Harris might not know what it was, but Gambit had heard that sound a few times before and each time he knew that death was on its way for whomever had caused it. Not bothering to explain things to Xander, Remy ran out of the room in the direction he thought that the sound had come from. His best guess was somewhere in the basement, perhaps the stripped danger room, but as to what had ticked off Wolverine enough to make him go feral like that, he had no idea at all. Whoever it had been probably wouldn't last long unless someone sent Logan off to lala land soon. He could hear the less than silent footsteps of Xander behind him and hoped that the boy would have enough sense to let him handle Logan. The golden-eyed kid showed some promise during the Phalanx invasion but against a feral Logan, he'd get eviscerated before he got more than two feet. Leaping down the stairs leading to the basement, he could hear that Logan was growling lethally, but it was when he saw the words carved into the door that his heart skipped a beat. 'This way to a dark ride' were the words and it didn't take a genius to figure out who had scrawled them into the door.

Marrow a.k.a Sarah the Morlock.

_The two o' dem down there t'gether!? _Remy thought with fear as he increased his speed even more, _Whose bright ideas was it to put de two o' dem together!?_

He was only a couple yards away from the door leading to the stripped danger room when a human sized ball of flame streaked past overhead and beat him there. Sam no doubt and, while still not skilled enough to beat Logan in a fair fight, much less feral, his kinetic blastin' field should be enough to let him knock Wolverine for a loop. As both Xander and he turned the corner, they were just in time to see Cannonball grab the canucklehead by the shirt and throw him hard into a wall. Looking around for Marrow, he spotted her running off as quick as rabbit and probably just as spooked as one if she had been the one to stare down a feral Wolverine.

"Logan, sir? Sir? Oh gosh…" Sam said as the X-Man checked Logan over to make sure he hadn't gone overkill with the throw into the brick wall, "Pleasedon'twakeupmadepleasedon'twakeupmad."

Footsteps and gust of wind behind him an' Xander heralded the arrival of Storm and Beast who most certainly had heard Logan's feral howl just as easily. The look of concern on Stormy's face, though, made him pause for a moment and for a second an idea popped into his head. Had Storm set up this fight between Logan and Sarah? His first reaction was to think not, since he didn't want to believe that his close friend would be so stupid as to put two people with attitude in the same room together. However as he ran through the events of what happened the last time the Windrider and Marrow tangled, it looked more and more possible that Ororo might've wanted to scare off the Morlock girl. It had been no secret that Storm hadn't approved of Bobby's decision to bring Sarah to the mansion, much less offer the bone girl a place here, but everyone had thought that she would at least try to make it work. However the bad blood between them, the time that Ororo had been forced to use lethal force on Marrow, was a hard thing for both of them to overcome. Maybe, being the human that she is, the snow haired lady just decided that it would be easier to just scare the girl off.

"Logan! Marrow…"Storm exclaimed as she touched down a few yards shy of Sam and Wolverine.

"So **this** is how the X-Men deal with **problems!?** Sic **Wolverine** on a **kid** so she's beyond anyone's help?!" Sam exclaimed with anger clearly written on his face.

"Samuel – you… you do not understand -- !" Storm said scrambling to give some kind of reasonable footing on which to build her response, "This was not supposed to – "

"What happened t'**compassion**, t'second chances?! This wasn't just teachin' Marrow a **lesson**… that was a **cockfight!**" Cannonball roared back not having any of Ororo's excuses, "One of them could have been **killed**! If Logan didn't have a **healin' factor, **he would have been **it!**"

"Sam, **please**. **Cleansing breaths.** I'm **sure** that there's a perfectly **sagacious** explanation—" Storm tried to say in an effort to break off a yelling match.

Good luck! Boy's got head full of steam now Stormy. Remy thought with disappointment towards his friend, Nothin' gonna stop him now 'til he's said his bit.

"Yeah… I get it… **second chances** are only for seniors this year." Sam said before stomping off to either blow off some steam or go look for Marrow.

"Samuel!" Storm yelled in an effort to stop him from leaving, "You do not know **who** we are dealing with! Marrow is – ."

"Dat's enough Stormy. Nothin' you say is gonna reach'em when he's like dis." Remy said as he placed a hand on the storm bringer's shoulder, "Best to let him calm down a bit 'fore you try an' explain yourself. 'Til then, maybe you can 'xplain to me why you t'ought putting two o' de most stubborn people in the mansion together was a good idea, neh?"

The tone in his voice, one of suspicion and disappointment, was enough to break off Storm's pursuit of Sam and he could tell that she was not looking forward to the discussion she was about to have one little bit.

_Doesn' matter. Some t'ings need to be dealt wit' and de sooner the better._ He thought as he patiently waited for Ororo to start talking.

&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&

_Morlock Tunnels, One Hour Later_

_No wonder bone-girl is so crabby! _Xander thought as he followed Marrow's aura trail through the twist and turns of the tunnels, _Living down here for so long would make anyone pissy!_

He had taken off after Marrow the moment that Storm and others had arrived on the scene figuring that Gambit would figure out what he already had and give Ororo a suitable lecture. His job would be to try and find the Morlock girl and repair what damage he could while convincing her to give the X-Men another chance. He didn't know much about his fellow newbie but he knew enough to acknowledge that she had had a tough life up until now. While he hadn't been impressed with this recent attempt at 'teaching' he still thought that the X-Mansion was the best place for Marrow right now. She wasn't evil per se but rather just had a lot of anger in her that she felt compelled to vent in whatever way she could. The X-men could give her a better way to express herself if both sides would just stop trying to tear each other's face off for a moment. Besides which he saw a little bit of himself in her and knew that if she could just make friends with a few people at the mansion she could become a completely different person.

Slowing down a bit as Marrow's aura got strong enough that he knew she was only a little ways ahead of him he worked to make his movements more stealthy and less noticeable. Creeping around a corner he spotted light coming from a doorway on the platform above the subway tracks. Inch by inch he moved forward until he could hear the voices inside and recognized one immediately as Marrow.

"It was… it was **fine**, Callisto… just **fine**." Marrow said in response to some question he hadn't heard, "I'm making **friends**."

"That's a good girl, **Sarah**… **good** girl…" said Callisto who was obviously not in the best of shape judging by the weakness in her voice.

Deciding he could use this opening to his advantage he walked towards the doorway without any attempt at concealing his presence and soon looked upon the wary face of a black haired woman, Callisto, and a surprised Marrow whose hands looked like they wanted to pull out some bone blades.

"Yep. That she is Callisto." He said politely since he didn't want to sound to casual right then, "A bit hard headed though. Hi, my name's Xander. I'm another newbie at the X-Mansion."

"Pleased to meet you Xander." Callisto said with a look that said she wasn't buying his act, "Is the Windrider holding a recruitment drive I haven't heard about?"

"Nah. I'm pretty sure me, Marrow and Cecelia just followed them home and now they're stuck with us." He replied keeping his tone light and his face relatively friendly, "It's a little rough, but I'm sure those spandex guys will get used to us sooner or later."

A genuine smile formed on the ailing woman showing that his attempt at a funny had worked. While he wasn't a doctor or anything the healing power of laughter should do some good for her.

"I'm sure they will." Callisto said as she grin faded a bit, "Now is their some reason why you have come down to our tunnels or is this just a social call?"

"Well 'Sarah' just had a little sparring session with Logan a little while ago and it kinda got a little out of hand." He replied using just enough of the truth for her to accept it, "I wanted to see how she was doing an' maybe show her a few moves for the next time."

"What sort of 'moves'?" Callisto asked with a look on her face that had warning bells ringing in his head like crazy.

_What is she ask-- ? No! She can't be implying--!_ He thought to himself as he tried to unravel the hidden meaning in the woman's words, _That's crazy! I barely know Marrow!_

"Get your mind out of the gutter Scaleface!" Marrow snapped as she had obviously caught onto where his mind was going, "I'd sooner date a Marauder than you!"

"Who said anything about a 'date' Sarah?" Callisto asked with a mischief covered look on her face.

With that question both he and Marrow shut up and blushed to varying degrees as they both realized that the elder woman had set them up and proved that there was something between them. After all why would either of them get so worked up over such an innocent comment or interpret it in that way if there wasn't something there? Shaking his head to get those sort of thoughts out of his mind he reached into his jacket pocket and tossed a plastic covered object to Marrow to send this discussion in another direction. It took the Morlock girl a few moments to figure out that it was a Twinkie but eventually she clued in and then looked at him as if asking for an explanation.

"Well I figured that you might be hungry after going a few rounds with Logan so I brought you a snack." He replied as he took out a Twinkie pack of his own and tore away the plastic, "Besides I figure that once you get a taste of a Twinkie you'll be more willing to come back to the mansion and learn a few things if that was the reward. After all, a tempting Twinkie is enough to get me to pay attention so why not you?"

"Maybe I'm not an idiot like you?" Marrow replied scathingly to his rhetorical question.

He noticed though that she did not let her opinion of him keep her from ripping open her own package of Twinkies and scarfing one down. It wasn't much of a sign but it did tell him that she at least thought enough of him to accept gifts from him and that was a start. Something he could build on and hopefully get her to trust him enough to listen when he had to step in when things between her and Storm got too heated.


	14. Unwanted Guests and Discoveries

Disclaimer: I do not own any of this nor am I making money off of it. They are the property of their respective owners and associated companies.

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One Week Later, The X-Mansion, Morning 

_Life __**IS good!**_ He thought to himself as he lay back on his towel and soaked up the sun's rays while looking at the tableau of beauty before him.

To his right was Jubilee trying desperately to prevent Ice Cube from dumping her in the lake and looking **mighty** fine in her bikini. In front of him, reclining on her towel and being pestered by Maggot to put on some suntan lotion, was Storm in a nice black and white bikini that **definitely** flattered her figure. Last came probably the most spectacular thing he had ever seen in the form of Rogue floating on her back, wearing a one piece suit that he'd swear was about one or so sizes too small for her. All in all, it was a definite array of eye candy before him and, thanks to his schooled expression as well as his sunglasses, none of the women knew he was checking them out. The only one who'd be able to tell them was Logan and he was off someplace checking on a potential intruder to the school grounds. Until then, he could just enjoy the view, soak up some rays and maybe later swim a bit in the lake to cool off a bit.

_Definitely not something I expected to see in the middle of winter._ He thought as he looked to the left and saw the snow-covered trees in the distance, _One of the benefits of having a mutant who can control the weather as a friend, I guess._

The only thing he could honestly say was souring his mood was the fact that Marrow, Deathbird or Doc Reyes had chosen not to come down to the lake with them. The first he could kind of understand because Sarah was probably still a bit leery of being anywhere near Logan after their botched 'discussion' in the remains of the Danger Room. Logan probably felt the same way, even though it was his 'unique' method of getting through to her that caused the screw up in the first place. Marrow was a Morlock, she had lived the majority of her life underground as a survivor, so she was no stranger to fighting for everything she wanted and, thus, violence would be ineffective in changing her. In his opinion, they needed to use methods that the young mutant would not expect, would not know how to handle, and for the most part that was a combination of talking as well as kindness. However it would also require the right person to reach out to her and, sadly, the senior X-Men were not the right ones for the job. Most of them had gone up against Sarah as enemies and were known to most Morlocks as having lived here at the mansion for a long time. From a Morlock's point of view, the X-Men were living in the lap of luxury compared to them and so the traditional poor-people-vs.-rich-people mindset kicked in. That being the case then, the only people who might be able to change her for the better would be the newer X-Men, Maggot, Doc Reyes and him.

As for Deathbird, he knew that she had a swimsuit since it was one of the things that Rogue and MJ had gotten during their little shopping spree with **his** money. However having everything she needed to go for a swim in the lake and actually doing it were two different things. While he'd like to think that her time among the X-Men on Earth might have put a dent in that 'I-AM-ROYALTY-HEAR-ME-SCOFF' attitude of hers, it was apparently still solid enough that she had declined the invitation to come swimming. Oh, she used more pompous, aristocratic words, but that was the basic point she managed to get across to the rest of them. Still the fact that she was actually wearing something other than her battle armor was a good sign and, unless he was imagining things, she had watched some TV the night before last. There had been no sign that anybody had been in the room aside from the fact that the TV had been left on, but his senses had been keen enough without Kung Lung's assistance that he was able to sniff her out. So while he was disappointed that she wasn't going to be joining the rest of them, he had faith that he'd make her into a half decent person eventually.

As for Doc Reyes, he still had hopes that she'd eventually show up after she got back from Salem Center. The woman was doing her level-headed best to get her old life back and wasn't about to take any variation on 'no' for an answer. She also wasn't going to let herself get too attached to life at the X-Mansion because, while she was almost always polite as well as friendly to everyone, she was a long way from making any friends. She'd been told before she'd headed out that they'd be down by the lake if she wanted to join them when she got back. All they'd gotten in response was a half spoken that she'd think about it before she got into the rental the mansion residents had been using lately.

The only other no show was Remy, but that was more because his less than perfect status among the rest of the X-Men at the moment. Even though it was two weeks since the proverbial cat had been let out of the bag concerning his connection to the Morlock Massacre, the only people who acted friendly around him were Storm, Jubilee, Cannonball and Maggot. Wolverine, who said he'd join them after dealing with a trespasser, was content to put things at blank slate status between him and Gambit. However 'blank slate' didn't just mean that the Cajun's past crimes were tossed away, but also the past trust he may have had with Logan. Between the two of them, trust would have to be re-earned from scratch and that could take a while depending on what the future held for everyone.

"BOMMMMBS AWAAAAY! WHOO-HOOOOO," yelled Sam Guthrie as he swung from the rope hanging from a tree overlooking the lake.

Looking in the blonde kid's direction, he could only smile at this moment of peace that the people he was rooming with had been allowed. While he seriously doubted he fully understood what it meant to be an X-Man if their schedule was anything like what the Scooby gang had to put up with back home, then moments like this had to be cherished.

"Aren't you supposed to be at your f**ather's,** Drake?" Jubilee asked between efforts to keep from being tossed off the senior X-man's shoulders.

"I was. Now I'm back, and you're going **under** Lee!" Bobby replied as he stepped up his efforts to dunk the Asian-American teen.

"Says **you**, cold miser!" Jubilation shot back as she upper her efforts as well.

However it turned out that throwing someone off one's shoulders was easier than staying on someone's shoulders since, ten seconds later, Bobby successfully managed to toss Jubilee into the lake head first.

"He shoots! He **SCORES!** Jubilee is **doused**!" Iceman crowed as his victim surfaced, "'Bobby Drake! How do **you** stay dry?' By dunking everyone **else** in the pool, Bob, and—"

That was about as far as the Ice Cube got before Ororo decided that a little of her own brand of divine intervention was in order by conjuring a rain cloud right over the arrogant asshole. With all the water that came out of the cloud, it was safe to say that Drake reached 'drenched' status in the first five seconds.

"Yes, **mommy!**" Bobby whined back in defeat.

A minute later he heard the sound of feet crushing grass heading towards the lake so he leveraged himself up on his elbows and looked back to see that Logan had arrived. The problem was there was a serious 'something is bothering me' look on his face and, while it didn't look like the reason was a big deal in terms of life or death, it was definitely not something to be ignored.

"Logan, you look angry. The **intruder**?" Storm asked with obvious concern at the expression on her friend's face.

"Department of Education inspector. We got **problems** Storm. **Big** problems. I'll tell ya **later**." Wolverine replied before taking a quick glance around, "Where's Gumbo?"

"I tried to talk him into coming earlier but I think he knew he'd receive a chilly welcome if he came here." He replied as he got to his feet.

"He shouldn't let Frosty over there—" Logan began to say before a seriously slushy snowball nailed him right in the face.

"Uh-oh." Was Storm's only comment to this and he had to agree with that sentiment one hundred percent.

Playing around with Jubilee and getting her wet against her will was one thing.

Smacking Wolverine in the face with a slushball was **definitely** something else.

"Yeah! Drake scores from thirty yards out and the crowd goes **wild!**" Iceman crowed from his place on the dock.

_Idiot does __**NOT**__ know the crap he just stepped in!_ Xander thought as he watched Logan wipe the slush off his face.

"Oh yeah, **Drake**? How 'bout I go for the **field goal** then?" Wolverine asked with a dangerous tone in his voice.

This apparently was enough to pierce even Ice-for-Brains' cranium as he looked at the miffed mutant glaring at him with new eyes.

"Hey! Calm down, Wolver-**mean**! I was only—"Bobby began to say in his own defence before karma decided to slam into him.

One Canuck tackle later and both Logan and Drake were in the lake.

When the two of them surfaced, though, it was clear that the menacing mutant man named Wolverine was taking things just a little **too** seriously.

"Or maybe I should go for a hole-in-one!" Logan said as he kept a grip on Iceman with one hand and popped three bone claws on the other, "Or better still, a hole-in-**three!**"

"Nice to see you don't just pick on little girls," growled a voice that could only make the situation worse.

Looking in the direction the comment had come from he spotted Sarah lurking in the tree by the lake and cursed himself for not sensing her coming earlier. Given the **rough** 'sparring session' the two of them had gone through a week ago, it was plain to see that having the two come into contact was a recipe for trouble with a capital T.

"First the one you **don't** like, then the ones you **do**? Is **that** it?" Marrow asked spitefully from her branch.

"You better go back in the basement and **hide** there, girl, or I'll give you **another** dose." Logan growled making it clear he was being **completely** truthful in his threat.

"You don't have the—" Sarah began to reply before a ground shaking bit of thunder cut through the air catching everyone's attention.

"Stop it this **INSTANT!** We came to this place to enjoy the **serenity** of nature." Storm yelled imperiously as the weather showed signs of mimicking her mood, "Let us **not** have it disrupted with these childish vendettas!"

This seemed to take the wind out of most of the troublemakers' sails but it looked like Logan was going to go cool off someplace else.

"Fine. I'll go make my **own** party," growled Wolverine as he stalked away with a foul tempered look on his face.

"Wolvie?!" Jubilee asked tentatively sounding like she wanted him to stick around.

"Not now, Lee. I'm not in the **mood**. Leave me **be**." Logan said a bit more softly but still showing signs of his lingering bad mood.

Shaking his head at the problem that had just narrowly been avoided, Xander knew that even if he resumed his babe watching, the funk left over from this would linger for an hour. After some debate on where to go and what to do he decided he'd try and talk to Marrow and see if he could convince her to make up with Logan or at the very least keep her sniping with him to a minimum. It would probably take some creative thinking, phrasing it in a way that would make it look like she was the top dog, but fortunately dealing with Snyder back home had provided him with some excellent experience.

"I'm gonna go see if I can find Marrow and convince her to up her behaviour to barely polite," he said as he headed in the direction he'd seen her scamper off too. "It might keep things from breaking down to another one on one between her and Logan."

"Very well. However be cautious." Storm said reluctantly.

"This is me we're talking about, Storm," Xander said with a playful grin.

"I think that's what she's worried about," Rogue chipped in as he left.

Building up to jogging pace, he used what better than average senses he had to lock onto Sarah and follow her, since he didn't think the situation warranted tapping into Kung Lung. While not as sharp as Wolverine's probably were, his sniffer was good enough that he managed to pick up her scent nonetheless. True, that might have more to do with the fact that she pretty much lived in the basement, visited the sewers and probably only bathed when absolutely necessary but hey whatever worked, worked.

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Fifteen Minutes Later, Entrance to the Mansion, Marrow's Perspective 

_Stupid X-Men! Piece of shit weather __**BITCH!**_ Marrow thought as she silently fumed as she approached the front door of the mansion, _If it wasn't for Callisto wanting me to be here, I'd never set foot in this place again!_

That was pretty much the focus of her thoughts as she roughly opened the door and walked inside. It almost amazed her how quick things had gone down the crapper since her and Callisto had decided to come out of the tunnels to deal with some upworlder in charge of something called 'Operation: Zero Tolerance'. They had heard a lot of yammering about it from the upworlders they'd overheard in the subway tunnels and the beaten up radio she'd found years ago. It had pissed her off that a bunch of upworlders were starting another mutant hunt because she knew it was only a matter of time before they came parading through Morlock territory looking for trouble. So they'd gone topside and ambushed a car carrying the mouthpiece of Zero Tolerance, Henry Peter Gyrich. From there things had gone from bad to screwed when the flatscan's bodyguards transformed into killer Prime Sentinals with some serious firepower. With that upworld hero Spider-Man involved, things had rapidly spun out of control and ended with Callisto getting badly injured, taking a shot meant for her. Once she decided that her priorities lay with getting her mentor to safety, she descended back to the safety of the sewers to an area secluded enough for her teacher to heal in peace.

She didn't stay down there for very long.

Morlock honor demanded that she repay the upworlders for what they had done to Callisto.

Once she was certain that her mentor's condition was stable enough, she had climbed her way out of the tunnels and surfaced in an upworlder law enforcer building. She had wasted no time making her presence felt, beating the crap out of two cops, but then more of those human sized sentinels showed up as well as that X-Man Drake and his whiny mutant skank of a sidekick. After a brief tussle in the building, they went outside to look for someplace to hide only to run into a small army of human-sized sentinels. Oh, they were saved all right, by having some foreign bitch drop a building on them, and from there came a long trip to some out of the way upworlder dwelling to save some upworlder kid. That was finished easy enough when Bastion's allies showed up to take **him** away for good. Apparently the jackass' backers in the country had decided to do a complete one eighty on him and booted his forces outside their boarders.

It had been then that she should have walked away the moment they got within running distance of the upworlder city known as New York. She should have returned immediately to the tunnels and cared for Callisto until she got better, but instead her curiosity about the home of the mighty X-Men prodded her into sticking with Iceman. That pretty much led her to where she was right now, cursing her curiosity and wondering what the hell she was still doing with these weaklings. Not one of them really interested her and she was pretty sure there was nothing any of them could teach her besides from how to be weak and vulnerable. That was something she would never allow herself to be because she'd learned long ago that those that were weak and vulnerable died at the hands of the ruthless and the strong. In fact, the only one of the mansion residents that she might actually miss was Xa—

_NO! Don't think about the lizard-eyed idiot!_ She scolded herself with a growl and a shake of the head, _I don't know what Callisto was thinking a week ago but the only thing I feel for that moron is revulsion! There's nothing else there! Nothing!_

As she passed by the entrance to the living room, though, she came upon a sight that made her pause in order to decide on a course of action. Lying still on the floor was the white haired man called Joseph. She could tell with a glance that he wasn't sleeping. Most likely it meant that he was dead or dying but since there was no blood around the body, that meant there was no external reason for his current state. That meant something internal had gone wrong, maybe a heart attack or a stroke, and that left her with a choice. Do I leave him here to die? Do I go back to those losers at the lake and bring back someone to help? Do I dare try to do something myself?

"Looks like we got a bit of a situation here," came a voice that took the choices right out of her hands.

Turning around she finds Xander standing in the doorway behind her, still in his swimming trunks and only a pair of sandals added from what he had on down by the lake. For a moment her mind was frozen, her eyes taking in his muscular form, and she began to wonder what it felt like to touch him. However it was only for a moment and, once her brain comes back online, she felt like stabbing herself for even going soft for a moment, especially since **HE** was the cause. Putting on her best 'I hate all upworlders' look on, she leaned up against the nearby doorframe with a look of indifference on her face.

"Looks like something's wrong with blondie over there." She said making it sound like she thought Joseph to be some brainless airhead worthy only of contempt, "I'll leave you to deal with him. I got better places to be."

With that she walked out of the living room and headed to the basement, the only place that felt like home in this godforsaken mansion, confident that her rep as a tough as nails warrior was still intact.

_Oh yeah! I'm the thing that darkness fears!_ She thought with a feral smile and much confidence.

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Living Room, Mansion, Xanders P.O.V 

_Was I imagining things or was Marrow checking me out just now?_ He asked himself mentally before shaking his head, _Nah! That girl has a mad on for just about everyone living above ground and is only here 'cause her sorta-mom told her to be here._

After all it was the only safe stance he could take on the whole thing that wouldn't be causing him to have either headaches or nightmares for the next few days.

Turning to Joseph, who was still motionless on the floor, he wondered what exactly he should do next. Should he do the whole CPR thing like he did for Buffy that time in the Master's lair? Should he run back at top speed to the others and get someone a bit more qualified to handle this? Running back to get someone might use up whatever time was available for bringing back Joe to the land of the living but giving him CPR ran the risk of someone walking in and seeing him liplocked with another guy. Both had the potential to turn into complete disasters but the latter held the possibility of someone dying and despite his ego's protests to the contrary getting embarrassed wasn't worth a death on his hands. With that in mind he walks over to Joseph and rolls the nig idiot onto his back before doing the standard set up procedures for mouth-to-mouth. When it came down to actually doing it though a mega freeze caused by memories of that whole incident with Larry the Linebacker during Oz's whole werewolf coming out party. It wasn't that he doubted his whole sexual ortientation and all that but rather he was afraid that others might doubt his sexual orientation if they caught him mouth-to-mouth with Joe.

_Shake it off, Harris!_ He thought to himself with discipline from his Halloween soldier personae, _A man's life is on the line, an X-Man, and you've got a job to do!_

With that the heart compressions and blowing of fresh (sorta) air into the lungs began with just the right tempo between each for someone Joseph's height, weight and build. For about three minutes this went on and each time he failed to receive an encouraging reaction from the prone man he began to worry that he might have been too late. Fortunately though the fates have deemed his efforts worthy of reward and with a shudder as well as a cough Joseph takes a breath of air unassisted. Moving back to a safe distance he waits for the man to get his head screwed on straight before he does anything at all.

"Cough unhh…what are you…doing…?" Joseph asked as he managed to place himself in a sitting position.

"Oh nothing much, just doing some C.P.R on a guy that wasn't breathing a moment ago, that's all." He replied honestly with only a little humor in his voice to lighten the mood.

Joseph seemed to take this into consideration before nodding and slowly began to get to his feet.

"Are you sure you want to do that?" He asked, not sure that the blonde man should be moving just yet, "You literally just came back from the dead a few moments ago."

"I'm fine. Whatever hurt me is gone." Joseph replied immediately in an effort to hide his momentary bout of weakness.

"If you say so, but you should still have Doc Reyes look you over when she gets back from Salem Center." He said making it clear he would fight the man on this point if he didn't do what he was told.

For a moment it did indeed look like the guy might actually start arguing but a moment later something popped into his head to make him reconsider.

"Very well." Joseph replied reluctantly.

"Good. Now if you'll excuse me I am suffering the first stages of eye candy withdrawl, so I'm heading back to the lake." He said before heading out the door to leave the older man to his own problems.

Once he hit the open air though he catches a series of scents on the air, most of them he recognized as belonging to the X-Men by the lake, however two of the scents cause him to double time it to the lake. The first is a living being that is not quite human, actually leaning more towards lizard, and the other is human blood. Add it all up and you got some unknown being attacking his roommates and doing a good enough job to draw blood. He couldn't tell whose it was, but it doesn't matter because at the end of the day, all of the X-Men were his friends and that meant anyone who hurt them was in for a world of hurt.

Deciding that the situation warranted it, he summoned his armor and then tapped into the power of Kung Lung in order to boost his physical capabilities to at least ten times the normal level. He doesn't know precisely how much the increase was because each time he tapped into the Black Dragon King's power he did it more by feel than any precise measurement. Still, it would help him take down the intruder quick and clean as he could get back to the mansion and inject some of the serum into his body before the enhancements and Kung Lung's spread of essence became permanent. It took about three minutes at sprinting speed for him to make it to the lake and when he got there, he set eyes on a being that is neither man nor pterodactyl, but a combination of the two. Decked out in a loincloth of some kind and ammo belts, he didn't look dangerous enough to be a problem for the X-Men but that just meant that he had a more subtle power that evened up the odds.

"You hurt some friends of mine, beak breath! I suggest you surrender while I'm still feeling charitable enough to let you walk away from this with a few bruises," Xander growled with some definite threat in his voice, threat which was only amped up by his James Earl Jones / Darth Vader voice.

"It is not I who will be begging for mercy, armored one! I have managed to defeat a team of X-Men with ease! What chance do you possibly have for defeating me?!" Beak Boy asked with the tone in his voice making his arrogance come through loud and clear.

"Oh, I admit that it's pretty impressive how you managed to take them down but there's a big difference between them and me." He replied as he extended the claws on both his hands and his feet, "They were probably trying to take you in alive. I have no such compunction."

That said, he charged in at top speed, determined to strike the first blow and seriously limit the beast's options. The beast brought up a handgun and fired but the bullets don't even scratch the paint on the armor, much less slow him down, so when he finally got in range he made his move. Most people pat this point would have expected him to aim for Beak Breath's torso but that would have been too obvious and well-guarded. Instead he attacked the beast's wings with the intent of slicing them to ribbons, thus removing Beak Boy's ability to fly. He managed to score a solid slash on the right wing but his attempts to go for the left one failed, getting him a mean left hook to the jaw instead, sending him tumbling along the ground a couple of feet. It took more than one shake of the head to get his brain working right but at least his head was still attached to his body and that was saying something, considering the power behind that hit. It was like the first time he took a solid punch from a vampire back in Sunnydale before he became the container for the essence of Kung Lung. Now, just like back then, though, it would take more than one of those hits to keep him down for good.

At least ten or so at the very least, he bet.

Getting back to his feet, he looked at Beak Breath and saw, much to his dismay, the slash wounds on the monster's wings closing at an accelerated rate. In less than a minute the beast would be completely healed and he would be back to square one as far as defeating him went, so that meant that either he had to up the level of damage he was doing to Beak Boy or use the power level he was at and keep pounding until the beast went down. His choice was made for him when Beak Breath charged him and brought things back to close quarters so fast he didn't have time to change anything. And so it began, a clash between two beings using fist and claw to harm each other, with neither side showing any sign of slowing down. However that began to change as he began to see signs of the creature's healing factor lose strength and wounds that would have healed up in moments were taking whole minutes to close up. As for him, his armor was still holding up pretty well with only a few slight dents here and there to show that he'd been hit at all.

_Definitely going to have to compliment Doc Strange on his workmanship, _Xander thought to himself as he tried to bury the talons on his fingertips in Beak Brain's stomach.

Unfortunately for him Bird Brain managed to catch his hand before it could pierce flesh and threw him like a ball and chain into the nearest collection of trees. He counted three trees that he ploughed through before his mind lost the coherency to count any higher. He didn't know whether it was weeks or only a few minutes before his mind cleared up, but the one thing he did know was that his current level of effort was barely slowing Beak Boy down. At the rate things were going, he'd probably lose consciousness before the beast finally went down for the ten count. That left him with two choices: tap into Kung Lung's power even more or get his ass kicked some more.

_Man, I hate multiple choice questions!!_ He thought as with a little less finesse than he would have liked he got back to his wobbly feet.

Looking back the way he came, he saw that Beak Boy had apparently decided that he was a goner. Not exactly far from the truth if his unstable legs were anything to go by, but he figured he still had enough left in him for one last exchange before he just rolled over and let someone else handle Mr. Beak.

With that in mind, he moved forward as fast as he could across the grassy forest floor towards Beak Breath, only stumbling once or twice along the way, and once he was confident he was close enough he leapt forward tackling the creature from behind.

"Piece of advice Polly! Never assume an enemy is defeated unless you've inspected the body yourself!" He yelled as he managed to land in the top position, "It'll make you less vulnerable to little surprises like this one!"

With no further need for words, he began to wail on Beak Break like there was no tomorrow, delivering hammering blow after hammering blow, in order to make sure there was no chance of his opponent counterattacking. It was about three minutes later that he realized that the human-dinosaur was no longer resisting anywhere near as much as it had in the beginning. In fact it would be accurate to say that the struggles were little more than floppy gestures rather than actual efforts to get free. It was then that two courses of action warred with one another: one being a decision to get off his enemy to see if it is truly down for the count and the other being to wail on it for a little while longer just to be sure. In the end, though, he chose the former in the hopes that the battle really was over and done with so he could go check on the person he'd smelled bleeding. Once off the dinosaur-human and on his feet, he looked down at the creature searching for any sign that its weakened state was a deception. However the floppy movements continued and the monster's eyes were shut so unless the thing was a superb actor, it was indeed down for the count.

"Not bad kid. A little rough near the end but you pulled it off," stated Wolverine's growly yet weary-sounding voice.

Turning in the feral man's direction, he was happy to see that most of the X-Men were with him and none of them looked too badly banged up. The one that looked the worst off was Storm, who looked like she had a nasty gunshot wound on her left hip but it didn't look life-threatening. As for the rest, it was mostly a case of torn clothing and maybe a few bruises marring their otherwise flawless features.

Nothing to be overly concerned about in his opinion.

"Yeah, well, I would've done better if I'd known who or what I was going up against." He said as he banished his armor in a flash of light, "Who was this guy anyways?"

"His name is Sauron and he is a foe the X-Men have encountered on various occasions. Despite his current appearance, he is actually human and only transforms into his current state when he absorbs the lifeforce energy of mutants." Storm replied, although there were signs of strain on her face, "We thought him to still be in the Savage Land but it would appear that he was not content to linger there."

"No kidding, Storm! So what're we gonna do with him anyways?" Jubilee asked with a look in her eyes that might be a slight concussion.

"I'll give Fury a call and have him send someone over to take Sauron off our hands." Wolverine said, still looking fatigued but doing his best to hide it.

"Well if that's all done, I think I'm gonna go and soak in the tub for awhile because, accelerated healing or no, being thrown through a couple trees leaves some nasty bruises." Xander said as he turned and began a less than steady walk towards the mansion.

By doing this, though, he missed the grins of respect from some of the X-Men and the speculative looks from the unattached X-Women.

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_**X-Mansion, One Hour Later, Living Room **_

"Ahhhh! Nothing like a nice cold one after getting the stuffing kicked out of you." Xander said quietly to himself after swallowing a mouth full of Pepsi.

When he had gotten back to the mansion, he'd gone immediately to the upstairs bathroom and the tub located there to make good on his statement of soaking in it for a while. Once his fingers and toes were on the verge of pruning on him, he got out, dried off and then began gathering things for a veg session in front of the replacement TV. Fortunately for him, the X-Men had seen the wisdom of keeping a spare on hand just in case something happened to the first one. That pretty much brought him to where he was right now and that was enjoying a Xena: Warrior Princess marathon with his favourite flavour of chips in hand as well as a six pack of Pepsi. Needless to say the Scooby way of winding down after a battle was definitely of the good as far as he was concerned.

When things went to commercial he got up and was about to head to the bathroom to heed the call of nature when one of those news show previews came on. For the most part he wasn't too interested but that changed when the news anchor began talking about some sort of mutant rights rally to be held in New York within a few days. He could tell it was scheduled to take place at noon at some kind of convention hall but all of the remaining details the news anchor was talking about vanished when a face appeared on screen. It was of a young woman on stage talking to a large audience about mutant rights from a wheel chair. She had red hair. She had green eyes. Her face was almost elfin in appearance.

He would recognize it anywhere.

It was Willow.

According to the line of text beneath her name, she would be one of the main speakers at the rally. His Willow would be criticizing all the mutant haters and bigots of the world. She would be raising the ire and the blood pressure of people who did not look fondly on 'race traitors' and tended to deal with such betrayal in a permanent manner. There was only one way he could respond to this turn of events.

"WHAT THE HELL IS SHE THINKING!?!?!?!?!?!"


	15. A Field Trip, An Attempt, A Mystery

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the copyrighted materials featured in this fanfic. They are the rightful property of their individual creators and associated companies. I am not making any money off of this whatsoever. I write for my own personal enjoyment and for the enjoyment of those readers who enjoy my work.

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_**Twenty Minutes Later, Xander's Room, The X-Mansion, Noon**_

_That idiot! What the hell is she thinking moving into the line of fire like this!?_ Xander thought as he began to conceal weapons from his personal stash on his person.

It had been twenty minutes since he'd seen her face on the TV in relation to a mutant rights rally that was going to take place in a few days. In fact, she was going to be one of the lead speakers at the event and that meant everyone who knew anything about the mutant rights scene would know about her. While under different circumstances he might be willing to commend her for taking on such a worthy role, Xander couldn't forget what happened the last time she spoke out against anti-mutant bigots. He remembered all too well how she looked in the hospital and, while she had survived, Willow had been paralyzed from the waist down. While they hadn't been obvious in the clips shown on the TV, he could see signs of scars on her face here and there although they had obviously been mostly concealed by make-up. He was afraid that if she put herself in the crosshairs by becoming too high profile at mutant rights things like this, people at the other end of the spectrum might finish what those bastards started in Sunnydale. His anger spiked when his mind conjured images of what might happen and he swore to himself right then and there that he **would NOT let that HAPPEN!**

_Have to make sure to only bring the ones that I can put in unexpected places and that won't set off the metal detectors._ He thought as he passed his metal weapons by in favor of the next best thing.

He'd already hidden a few wooden knives and hard plastic batons, but he wanted a few more things to make sure he was prepared enough should some prick try to take a shot at Willow. Hopefully, though, he'd be able to convince her to bow out of the convention thing and perhaps even to stop doing things that would make her a target for mutant hating bigots worldwide. Realistically, of course, he knew he'd have his work cut out for him just getting her to stand down on her planned speech at the convention. His redheaded best friend could be unreasonably stubborn when it came to something she believed in.

"Are you going to war, Xander?" Came a voice that he **SO** didn't need to hear at the moment.

Turning around he saw Deathbird, aka Cal'Syee Neramani, standing in the doorway of his room, looking at him with a speculative eye. When he had first made the decision to head to New York to talk Willow out of speaking out on Mutant rights, he'd hoped that he'd be able to make it out the front door before anyone noticed. While he appreciated all that the X-Men had done for him since he'd hooked up with them, this was a personal matter that didn't involve them. Unfortunately he had his doubts as to whether or not he'd be able to convince Cal'Syee to let him pass without an explanation and, if she wanted to come along, he'd have no choice but to let her. Oh, he could try and **persuade** her to stay at the mansion and keep quiet about his departure with the X-Men, but given her usual attitude, she'd only cause a commotion and that would bring the others running. So in the end, he knew that in this case honesty was the only option open to him.

"No. Just going to see a friend in New York who's probably going to get herself killed talking about things she shouldn't." Xander replied honestly while leaving out enough of the facts that might intrigue her so that the chances of her becoming interested would be lessened, "I'm going to go try and talk some sense into her."

"And the weapons?" Deathbird asked, not willing at all to be satisfied with just a limited answer.

"Just in case someone decides to try something before I finish reasoning with her." He replied as he slid the last of his concealed weapons into its sheath.

"You mean to prevent her death." Cal'Syee stated, seeing through his half said words and omitted bits of information, "You believe that that which she wishes to speak out about will provoke someone into killing her. Am I right?"

_DAMN! Should've known I wouldn't be able to dance around the truth with her!_ He thought before replying, "Yes, but it doesn't concern you or the X-Men, so I'd appreciate if you stayed out of it and didn't tell them where I've gone."

"While I could care less what happened to you, terran, it would only mean trouble for me if the X-Men were to learn that I was aware of your departure and did nothing. Therefore I shall be accompanying you to ensure that you do nothing foolish that might make my **hosts** upset." She said before moving over to the weapons he had arrayed on the bed and selecting a few for herself.

_DAMMIT! Bringing her along is only going to complicate things! She doesn't know anything about civilian terran life beyond the basics and her attitude is probably going to have her wanting to kill people every ten minutes!_ He thought as his mind scrambled for a way to fix the deteriorating situation.

"Your weapons are mostly meant for close quarters combat. Why is this?" Neramani asked with mild interest probably stemming from her warrior nature.

"Most demons and vamps laugh off guns and bullets or get pissed from the pain. Melee weapons are more effective since you usually need to lop a demon's head off or stab it with a certain type of metal to kill it," he replied, deciding that any further effort expended to try and get her to stay put would be a waste of energy on his part. "My friends back home and I weren't exactly rich so we couldn't afford to get any fancy laser guns or the kind of weapons you're probably used to. Still, we managed to make do with what we had."

"Weapons do not decide battles, Xander. It is the warrior that wields the weapon that decides the outcome of a battle." Deathbird said as she followed his lead by selecting non-metallic weapons from the things laid out, "Given the right circumstances, I could kill you with a single nail and my bare hands or defeat a Sentinel with only a wooden staff. Considering how you fight, I would have thought you knew this."

"I do know, but that doesn't change the fact that it's better to kill a vamp quickly with a sword or a stake then to waste time shooting a ton of bullets at it." He said, accepting that he might as well try and work with her since fighting her on her choice to come with him would get him nowhere, "I thought a warrior lady like you'd know that."

"Indeed." Was all she said as she finished concealing two wooden knives beneath the sleeves of her sweater and slid a collapsible staff under the strap of her bra.

Once armed, they headed for the door, since he was still eager to leave the mansion before any more of the X-Men showed up and asked to come along as well. The two of them managed to slip out the house and exit the gates without any sign of being noticed by the rest of the mansion residents. Once outside, though, came the difficult choice of how exactly he was planning on getting to New York since taking the rental car would only alert the others that something was up. That meant either taking public transit that would be potentially hazardous, given the Shi'ar warrior's temperament, or employing a more obvious choice. His reluctance was born more from unfamiliarity with this method as a means of getting around than the potential consequences of employing it. Still, it was the easiest way of getting from point A to point B and he'd have Cal to help him out if he got into any trouble.

"Feel like spreading your wings before rubbing elbows with a large group of terrans?" He asked half rhetorically before he summoned his armor and reached within himself for the power to do what he wanted.

As it always had when he did this, pain up and down his back flared into being and only his own stubbornness kept him from bending over in agony. He could feel the almost parallel slits forming on his back and, with all the violence he'd come to expect from them, his black dragon wings sprouted forth from the back of his armor like a dinosaur escaping from a tar pit. As the pain faded, he could feel the metal of his back plate once again return to a state of metallic solidity but leaving enough room around the wings that they will not be impaired at all. When his breathing finally began to ease up, he used the instinctive knowledge that came with summoning the wings to fold them up on his back before turning to see if Deathbird would take him up on his suggestion that they fly to New York.

What he saw momentarily robbed him of his higher brain functions almost immediately.

Cal'Syee Neramani had indeed chosen to take him up on his offer to fly to New York and had shed her sweater in order to unfurl her wings completely. He had thought that she might have some sort of backless shirt on underneath in order to allow her appendages some freedom of movement, as he knew for a fact that this little tidbit had been brought up by Rogue during the shopping spree she and MJ had dragged him through. Thanks to some comparisons with Worthington's situation, they came to the conclusion that the majority of her shirts should either be backless or be configured in such a way that the Shi'ar warrior could let her wings come out without going topless. While he had noticed the absence of fabric on her back when she'd tucked away the collapsible staff, he had assumed that she'd simply pulled her other shirt up with her sweater. He now saw that, in fact, the only thing she had been wearing underneath her sweater was her bra, which showed off her cleavage quite nicely. It was only when he heard the ruffling of the feathers on her wings that he snapped out of his daze to take on a more professional appearance. He knew that his face was obscured by his mask thus she couldn't possibly have seen the look on his face, but he just hoped that she hadn't noticed anything improper about his stance or else he was going to be on the sharp end of her tongue the entire flight.

"Shall we be off, terran, or do you plan on staring at my chest for another few moments?" She asked with a bit of anger before taking to the air and flying in the general direction of New York.

_How the--!? How did she--?!_ He thought as he tried to figure out how she'd caught him looking when he was pretty sure he hadn't angled his head in any way to give away what he'd been looking at.

However as he saw her getting further and further away from him, he decided that he had more important things to worry about at the moment, like catching up to the one person who knew how to get to New York from the air under their own power.

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_**A Few Hours Later, About Three Quarters of the Way to New York City**_

_**Deathbird aka Cal'Syee Neramani's Perspective**_

_Such potential yet still so inexperienced!_ Deathbird thought as she glanced behind her to make sure that Xander was still with her.

That had been her opinion of the strange terran from the moment she'd first heard her subordinate's report on how the young man had faired against the Phalanx. Since then, she'd seen numerous examples of the warrior he could become with the right guidance, but that would only happen if she could rid him of his youthful stupidity. Everyone had it when they were young and, sooner or later, had it torn away from them by some traumatic event or painful experience. Her's had been stripped away at an early age when she'd overheard her mother and sister talking about the prophecy they learned of earlier in the day, a prophecy that said she was doomed to commit an act of evil that would threaten the entire Shi'ar Empire. Naturally she had been shocked to learn of such a prophecy but what had driven her mad with rage was that neither the woman who had brought her into the world, nor the little girl who had been her best friend, had hesitated to believe it. The two people she should have been able to trust more than anyone else never even took a minute to decide what their own opinions were, they just went along with what the rest of the Aerie had decided! Confronted with such betrayal, was it any surprise that she descended upon them in a fury, killing them both in a matter of moments? No, they deserved their fates. Such was the fate of all traitors!

For Xander, though, she could tell that he had not suffered such an incident and thus still possessed some innocence within him. Innocence that allowed a child to have complete faith in their friends and family, regardless of what happened. Innocence that allowed him to believe that while his people could commit acts of great evil, it didn't allow him to truly see the depths of the darkness within their souls. Still, she knew it wouldn't last for very long if he remained with the X-Men. While those foolish terrans didn't seek out violence and evil, they invariably encountered it more often then random chance would normally permit. From what the golden-eyed youth had told her, he had encountered the evil that monsters represented but had yet to truly encounter the evil that resided in the bodies and spirits of his own people.

_The transition will be harsh for him. His spirit is too full of hope and joy for it to affect him in any other way._ She thought as she spotted the city where the youth's friend was located, _Perhaps I should take him under my wing as I did Gladiator. He certainly possesses as much potential as that musclebound oaf in terms of power, but at least Xander has shown a willingness to actually use his brain for more than a symbol of his idiocy!_

As the city came closer and time passed, she found herself more agreeable to the idea of teaching Xander how to be a warrior. She had nothing better to do while on the pathetic mudball of a planet that the inhabitants called Earth and, by McCoy's projections, it would be at least three more months before her people came for her. Not nearly enough time to do a proper job, but at the very least she could ensure that he mastered the basics by the time she left. She could even select one of the X-Men, perhaps the feral Wolverine, to build upon the foundation she would have laid out by then. The stunted fool might a bit soft due to the doctrine that his fellow X-Men followed, but at least Logan understood the necessity of lethal force when the situation required it. Under the scruffy, short man, Xander would be properly trained.

_Assuming, of course, that I don't decide to take him with me when I leave._ She thought as another possibility was presented to her by her imagination and ambition.

Indeed it was a tempting idea to take the youth with her when she left. After all, from what she had gathered, he had few true ties to his homeworld that would be a problem for her. Those that did exist, such as this girl he was determined to protect, were waning at the very least and, if not reinforced by frequent contact, would eventually become no more than a memory. With the right…persuasion…she might be able to convince him that his future lay with her in space rather than dwelling amongst his own people on his own world. At such a thought, images came unbidden to her mind and, for a brief moment, she let them come. A chill went through her body, as though the air had suddenly become a great deal colder, causing her to briefly steel herself against the effect it had on her body. It wasn't until she felt a disturbance in the air coming from behind her with her wings that she remembered herself and forced such thoughts from her mind.

_By Sharra! Time among these Terrans has already begun to soften my warrior's edge!_ She thought angrily as she turned to see Xander coming up alongside of her, _And this __**particular**__ Terran has been a significant contributor to that process with the clothes he purchased for me and his insistence on having me learn more of this world from the planet's surface!_

"We should probably touch down soon. Don't want to attract too much attention by landing right on top of the convention center." He said with his armor's deep voice before descending.

_I will have to watch myself more carefully in the future. _She thought as she followed his lead downwards towards a small crop of vegetation on the edge of the city, _A true warrior is always vigilant! A true warrior does not trust easily, if at all. Most of all a warrior does not allow flights of fancy to influence their actions!_

She would keep these lessons, the lessons she learned through firsthand experience, close to her heart.

They would keep her strong.

They would lead her to victory.

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_**Xander's Perspective, The City Streets of New York City, Forty-Five Minutes Later**_

_MAN! Hasn't __**this**__ been a __**fun**__ trip!_ He thought with extra snark and sarcasm as he carefully dragged Cal'Syee off of the bus they'd used to make it to the right part of the city to get to their ultimate destination.

"Unhand me, Terran!" Deathbird growled as she forcibly freed her hand from his grasp, "That whore dared to insult me! This cannot go unanswered!"

Deciding that her bitching was attracting far too much attention, he reattached his hand to hers and added a stern 'do not fight me on this' glare before pulling her a safe distance away from the main flow of pedestrians. Once he was sure that they wouldn't be overheard, he decided it was time to once and for all reign in Queen D's tendencies before they would up have S.W.A.T and every hero in range on their asses. It had been like this pretty much from the moment they exited the small park that was their landing point to the present. Things had started out easily enough with Cal only voicing her displeasure at being forced to ride in such primitive means of transportation instead of flying the entire way. As far as she was concerned, they had no reason to hide their ability to fly from the people of New York City, but rather that they should be proud of their status as higher beings. He had, however, made it clear that being 'proud' would have gotten them a lot of unwanted attention of the law enforcement kind since he was fairly certain that at least one U.S law enforcement division probably had an arrest warrant for her. Plus he didn't want to accidentally fly into the side of a building, which was a distinct possibility considering the view she had been giving him since they left the mansion.

After her chastising comment about him staring at her bra-encased chest at the mansion, he'd done his level best to keep his eyes on the sky/road. He'd even gone as far as to rehearse what he was going to tell Willow when they met, since that was a complicated enough issue that it required the majority of his brain power. However that only lasted until about the halfway point of the trip when he looked in the direction of the last place he'd seen her just to make certain that he hadn't lost her. It was then that he noticed two things that quickly motivated him to drop back a little rather than fly a little behind her to the right. First what he noticed was that she had this odd grin on her face that he could honestly say he'd never seen on her face before. It was neither malevolent nor cruel, it wasn't even the grin of victory, but of something decidedly more enjoyable that immediately caused him some discomfort. However it had been the second thing his extremely high resolution and sensitive eyes had picked up that had caused him to slow down considerably. It had been during one of her minimal course corrections with her wings that she'd angled her body towards him about halfway that he'd noticed a shocking fact.

Her nipples.

They had been poking out under her bra.

Considering that they hadn't been high enough up in the air for temperature to be a factor, he didn't need to be a rocket scientist to figure out what might have caused the reaction. Now he did try to dismiss the whole thing as nothing more than the woman being cold, but somehow he doubted it. In fact he had the uncomfortable hunch that he was somehow responsible for it, since he had neither seen nor noticed anything else that might have inspired such a mood in her. She pretty much scoffed at the other X-Men, only treating them with the bare minimum respect required from a guest in someone else's home. Also considering how grabby she'd been in that cave in Antarctica, he had a feeling that she **wanted** him, though whether that was as a teddy bear or something more he didn't know.

_And I'm not sure if I wanna know! Ever!_ He thought as he came to a stop, satisfied that they were far enough from the sidewalk that no one would overhear them.

"You had best explain quickly, Terran, or I will ensure you regret treating me like this." Deathbird threatened as she freed her hand a second time before crossing her arms across her…chest.

_NO! Cannot think of that! Focus on the important stuff!_ He thought as he tripped the memories of the earlier flight before they could take center stage in his mind.

"Look! I know that back in the Shi'ar Empire you were treated like royalty or, at the very least, respect. Here on Earth, though, no one outside of the Superhero or Super Villain club knows who you are or what you can do." He explained trying to make the woman understand that the people pissing her off didn't know any better.

"All the more reason to **educate** them." Cal stated, making it clear she intended to go back and find the stuck up female executive that had called the Neramani woman a tramp and begin teaching 'R-E-S-P-E-C-T 101'.

"Your form of **instruction** would only cause us problem with the local law enforcement and probably bring every hero in the city down on our heads!" Xander growled, letting her know that such a situation would not be appreciated, "Considering you haven't exactly made any friends down here on Earth, attracting that kind of attention to yourself would be a bad idea."

"Are you telling me that you would shy away from a battle like that?" She asked, sounding like she was being given cause to re-evaluate her opinion of him.

"Just because I don't seek confrontation with every person I come across doesn't make me any less of a warrior than you, **Cal'Syee Neramani,**" he said coldly, as if daring her to push him one step further. "Only an idiot engages in useless battles."

"Indeed," she said, losing all of her earlier anger and irritation as though it had all been an act.

_But it wasn't right?_ He thought as he reviewed everything he'd seen, _She didn't just act that way to prove a point did she?_

"Now let us go to this place where your friend is. If we do not arrive there soon, your fear of her coming to harm may come to pass." She said before walking past him to the entrance of the alleyway.

_I swear! It doesn't matter where their from or what species they are!_ He thought with exasperation, _**WOMEN**__ are __**IMPOSSIBLE**__ to figure __**OUT!**_

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_**The Jackson Center, One Hour Later**_

"A Mutant Rights Rally?" Deathbird asked as she used her rudimentary knowledge of Terran languages to read the banner that hung over the entrance to the building.

"Yeah. They don't happen that often and they don't get much support, but they definitely attract the media." He replied as the walked up the steps towards the front doors, "Mostly because the newshounds probably figure something dramatic or violent will happen. Mutant haters like the Friends of Humanity tend to get pissed when they see things like this and storm the place."

"That is why you wished to speak to your friend! You believe this place will come under attack by those oppose to the message these people are trying to spread." Cal'Syee said, as all the facts finally fell into place, "But is mutant rights not a worthy cause? The X-Men claim to be champions of this struggle."

"It's a good cause, but like I said it tends to attract the bigots with big guns and I don't want Willow anywhere near a situation like that." He said as he entered the building and began looking for the reception desk, "She's been through enough already speaking out on mutant rights and doesn't need to be put through any more pain."

With that, he strode off to the reception desk he'd located and hoped that they'd either be able to tell him where to find Willow or be able to have her come out here. He needed to speak with her immediately and would probably need all the time he could get before the opening day of the Rally to convince her to bow out of the whole thing. He'd probably need to dredge up a painful memory or two of what happened the last time she spoke out on mutant rights in order to convince her that participating in this thing was a bad idea. He'd also probably have to point out how much she was probably needed back in Sunnydale protecting the Hellmouth from the demon of the month. Then he'd probably have to pour on the ol' Xander 'best friend since preschool' charm to break down the final wall of resistance. Still, he was fairly certain he'd be able to convince her to take his advice in the end.

_And if talking fails, I could always have Deathbird scare her into submission._ He thought with some humor as he pictured that in his head, _The woman may know nothing about how to properly treat people, but she definitely has a knack for intimidating people._

"May I help you?" Asked the twenty-something lady receptionist behind the desk.

"Well if you could pass on a message to Ms. Rosenberg, then yes you most definitely can." He replied putting on his trademark lopsided smile, "I understand she's scheduled to speak at the rally in a few days."

"Why yes she is, but I'm not sure if she's here today." The young woman said with a seriously pleasant smile, "I just started my shift a few moments ago."

"Well does this place have a personal address system installed?" he asked looking about the place for tactical trouble spots, "Just get on it and say that White Knight is waiting for Yellow Crayon at the front reception desk. Trust me when I say she'll know what it means."

"White Knight?" Deathbird asked, obviously picking up that it meant him as the receptionist went on the P.A system to repeat his message.

"It was something of a nickname I had back home. Basically it means someone whose nature has him always charging in to save the damsel in distress and unable to do anything but the right thing." He replied, showing his 'on the fence' opinion of the description of his nature.

"A somewhat fitting description, although I believe that 'right thing' is a subjective term. What some might see as the right action, others might view as the opposite." Cal stated with a slot nod showing her partial agreement with the description of him, "And 'Yellow Crayon'?"

"It was something that happened back when me and Willow were kids. We were in pre-school playing around with crayons and she wound up breaking the yellow one by accident." He replied partially wondering why he was sharing this story with Deathbird, "She was so afraid that she'd get into trouble for it that I passed her my yellow crayon. That was pretty much the start of our friendship so it shouldn't take her more than a second or two to clue in that I'm here."

"Less, actually, Xander. Your 'condition' is like a beacon to my **unique** senses," came a voice that was both familiar to him and yet had a trace of something in it he didn't understand. "I knew you were here the moment you got within five blocks of the center."

Turning in the direction of the voice he wasn't disappointed to see his redheaded best friend rolling up to him from the elevator in her wheelchair, dressed in a smart ladies business suit. He couldn't come close to controlling the minute wince around his eyes at the sight of her in that chair and with that physical reaction came the emotional reaction of guilt as well as sadness. It was his fault that she was like this because it had been for him and Ms. Calendar that she'd stood up to those former Sunnydale High School jocks. If it hadn't been for his moment of stupidity that led to him becoming the host for Kung Lung, all the misery and badness that followed would never have happened. It was this guilt that drove him to put on a determined face and focus on the reason he came here in the first place.

"Shoulda figured someone with your **talents** would be impossible to surprise." He said before looking at the woman who had walked up alongside his longtime friend, "So who's this?"

"This is Abigail Jones, my personal assistant, she helps me with organizing some of the details of these rallies and steps into answer questions for the media from time to time." Willow replied with a voice still in possession of the warmness of friendship but also possessing that unidentifiable trait he couldn't pin down, "So what brings you to the Big Apple?"

"You, actually. I caught your face on the news a few hours ago and decided to swing by and pay a visit." He replied not wanting to spit out the real reason in such a public area of the building, "Is there someplace a little more…private…where we can talk? I kinda have something I want to talk to you about."

"Sure. One of the ground floor meeting rooms is just over there." Willow said before turning her wheelchair in that direction and rolling away.

A little surprised at her individual decision, he followed her with Cal'Syee coming up behind him and that Ms. Jones character taking up the rear. Whether this was some sort of security measure or something that just came naturally to the brunette at the rear, he didn't know but he shook off his wariness. He had more important things to worry about and besides which he was sure that Willow would never have hired someone as a personal assistant without them being supremely trustworthy. Once they were all inside, he stalled for a moment, caught between preparing to persuade Willow and actually doing it, but with the click of the door behind him he finally made his choice.

"Willow you should bow out of this rally." He said deciding that beating around the bush would accomplish nothing, "I know you believe in this cause and it is commendable, but these kind of gatherings can get out of hand sometimes, especially if one of those F.O.H idiots show up. I'm not saying that you have to leave the mutant rights fight entirely. Just pick something a little more low profile than public speaking at rallies."

There.

He'd said his piece and even managed to lay out a compromise that wouldn't force his best friend to entirely give up her chosen mission. It didn't satisfy him completely but he knew that asking her to give the whole thing up would be impossible and more than likely drive a wedge between them.

"No," was all Willow said in return.

"No what?" He asked not sure if he understood her statement completely.

"No I will not step down from my position as one of the speakers of this rally or compromise my position on mutant rights by choosing a 'lower profile' position." Willow said as though trying to put a scientific theory into laymen terms for a particularly poor student.

"But Willow--!" was about as far as he got before she glared him into silence.

"Believe it or not, Xander, I know what's probably going through your head right now, so let me fire off all of my counter arguments at once so we can get this over with sooner rather than later." Willow said in a tone that would not be crossed by anyone, "It was not your fault that those bigots beat me into this state back in Sunnydale. It is not your fault that the others got treated like plague bearers by the rest of the town. It is not your fault that my parents reacted like they did in my hospital room. The only people at fault are those that either couldn't or wouldn't see that you were still the same old Xander where it counts."

"That doesn't change the fact that by making yourself so visible you're practically daring assholes like the Friends of Humanity to take potshots at you!" He argued back, angry that his best friend couldn't see the danger she was in, "What's to stop one of them from shooting you through the head or going all suicide bomber on you?!"

"That would be me, Mr. Harris." Abigail Jones replied somewhat sternly in order to make it clear that she was serious, "While my primary job is to help Ms. Rosenberg with these events, I also act as her personal bodyguard. While I appreciate your concern for her, I can promise you that no one will harm her under my watch."

Looking at the woman, he could see signs of being a bodyguard in that she had a relatively athletic body and her eyes spoke of being both alert as well as perceptive. However all that convinced him of was that she'd be thorough in implementing the usual security measures like metal detectors and deployment of security guards. While that might be sufficient against normal threats, he knew that there were ways around such obstacles. There existed ways of making weapons that would not be detected by metal detectors and, with the right training, security guards could be bypassed easily. He supposed that there might be a few mutants working security but, considering how most people came into their mutant powers during puberty, it was anyone's guess how well-trained they were. Therefore, while it somewhat improved his mood that there was someone competent in charge of security, it did little to dispel the feelings of concern he had for Willow's safety or his desire to get her to bow out of the event.

"I'm sure you're good at your job, Ms. Jones, but if you're half as good as you appear to be then you know that metal detectors and rent-a-cops do not a secure event make." He said, trying to keep his tone civil and non-offensive, "Considering how fanatical some of those assholes can be, you'd have to lock this place up tighter than Fort Knox to keep them out. No offense, but I just don't see you and Willow having enough money to make security that air tight."

"You are correct in that we do not have that level of resources, however it does not change my position that no harm will come to Ms. Rosenberg under my watch." Abbie stated, completely unaffected by his words.

"How?" He asked with some hostility, not knowing whether her resolve came from experience or overconfidence.

"I can see that you will need a demonstration. Very well," Jones said before taking off her blazer she had over a pink blouse as well as her business shoes. "Attack me. Come at me with everything you have."

"What?!" Xander asked, somewhat surprised at this since she didn't look like the tomboyish type that would dare someone to hit them to prove how good they were.

"Attack me. I will show you now why there is no chance of harm befalling Ms. Rosenberg while I am in charge of protecting her." Abigail stated before taking on what looked to him to be a basic fighting stance.

Looking to Willow, he only saw her give the 'go-ahead-I-trust-you' nod when he nonverbally asked her if she was alright with him attacking her assistant and bodyguard. Shrugging and still not sure if he was doing the right thing, he decided to put all his effort into one attack so as to make his point quickly rather having to show this woman again and again why she wouldn't be enough to provide satisfactory security to his Willow. Drawing on just enough of Kung Lungs power to increase his strength and speed to what he figured was Captain America levels, he charged forward with the intent of delivering a solid right hook to the Ms. Jones' jaw. As the fist reached dangerous proximity to the woman's jaw, though, he began to hesitate a bit since, unless she was something more than normal, she wouldn't be able to stop his fist from connecting. He was just about to consider pulling his punch even more when something happened that he did not expect one little bit. With all the speed of picture modification program on a computer, the woman's skin and hair suddenly went from looking completely human to a shade of metallic grey that was damn authentic looking.

It soon **felt** authentic looking too since, the moment his fist connected with her jaw, painful vibrations were sent up and down his arm as the irresistible force that was his fist met with the immovable object that was Abigail Jones. The woman didn't even flinch when his blow connected or even take a step or two back from the power behind the blow. For all the effect he had on her, he might as well have just flicked her nose with his finger instead of trying to T.K.O her. Taking a step back, he tried to figure out what the hell she had done but, before he finished taking his step, she grabbed his outstretched arm and, with prowess that left him dumbfounded, threw him across the room. Landing on the floor and skidding a bit, Xander had to look back at the woman with some awe at the speed and strength she had shown just then. Obviously there was more to this woman than met the eye and he was going to have do some serious homework before he made any judgments about what she could or couldn't do.

Getting to his feet, Xander looked over to Cal' to see that she too was interested in the mysterious assistant of Willow's and he could also see that she might actually have been considering testing the woman's metal herself. Before that happened, though, he had a single question he had to ask her before things got to the point where actions would speak louder than words.

"How'd you do that?" He asked showing his definite desire for an answer.

"As you may have surmised, I am a mutant. My power is the ability to take on a desired aspect of whatever substance falls within a fifty feet range of my body. Tactile contact is not required, but rather proximity to the desired element." Ms. Jones replied before reaching into her pocket to reveal what looked like a bracelet composed of chunks of metal, plastics, rocks and transparent containers with unknown liquids in them, "Naturally I cannot afford to be dependant on my environment to have the element I require for a certain situation, so I have made it habit to carry this bracelet containing samples of the more useful substances for my chosen vocation. What I used against you was the small sample of Vibranium I acquired during my time in Wakanda."

_Vibranium!!_ He thought with shock that undoubtedly showed on his face.

While not a widely available substance, Vibranium was well known to anyone who watched the news every once and awhile or knew anything about Captain America. It was a super rare substance that could absorb all vibrational and kinetic energy directed at it. It absorbed that energy and used it to reinforce its own durability, making it incredibly hard to pierce or destroy. If it was true that she could take on aspects of substances, then it made her quite versatile both for offense and defense. Jones was still only one person, though, and all it would take would be a potent enough distraction to get her away from Willow and allow an assassin to make their move.

"If you are thinking that my inability to be in more than one place at a time might render Ms. Rosenberg vulnerable should I be elsewhere when the attack occurs, I've already considered that possibility. With Ms. Rosenberg's assistance, we've managed to come up with a solid defense against that scenario." Abigail said before turning to Willow and nodding once.

Looking to see what his friend had to do with Jones' foolproof defense against the 'lure-the-bodyguard-away-and-kill-the-race-traitor' plan, he got his first hint when Willow closed her eyes and began to mumble something under her breath that indicated that she was doing some mojo at the moment. He was about to ask what kind of spell was being cast when a flash of blue light temporarily blinded him before vanishing like the flash on a camera usually did. Blinking a few times, he tried to figure out what the hell had happened but it was clear as Ms. Jones turned back to him that she was about to continue her explanation.

"Now try and attack me again, Mr. Harris." Abigail said before turning back into normal flesh and blood instead of Ms. Vibranium.

While not entirely thrilled at the prospect of hitting her a second time when she turned herself into Ms. Adamantium or something, he decided to give it one more shot. Winding up, he delivered a right hook to her jaw but this time he only reached the t-minus half an inch point before something not only stopped his punch cold but also sent him flying backwards. Shaking his head a bit to get his senses back online, he was able to just see a blue energy field fade away and that gave him the clue he needed to figure out what was going on. Somehow the spell that Willow cast had prevented him from harming her personal assistant, but what had been the trigger? Was it his intent? Or the proximity of a threatening move to an unresponsive target?

"It was about two months ago when we had a rally in L.A and were a bit worried about the local Friends of Humanity chapter crashing the place," Willow said, explaining what had just happened instead of her bodyguard. "Fortunately we bumped into a friendly demon named Lorne who ran this bar called Caritas and he managed to help us out. He has a similar version of this spell on his place that prevents anyone from doing anything violent while their inside his place of business. This version is weaker and can only last for about an hour because it's tied to this amulet."

His best bud since pre-school took out an amethyst colored amulet from beneath her shirt that was glowing brightly with an inner light.

"The trio of witches that made this for me said it'd last for about an hour and a half once activated and would have a range of seventy five feet in every direction," Explained the redhead as she put the amulet back under her shirt. "This combined with Abbie's skills pretty much reduces the chances of someone hurting me to pretty much zilch."

While he didn't want to admit it, the two women had covered their bases pretty well in terms of security and protection for his high school tutor, but there was still a part of him that didn't think it'd be enough and was unwilling to risk the young Rosenberg's life by leaving. Therefore there was only one decision he could think of that he could live with and that the smartest student at Sunnydale High School might consent to.

"Pretty much is not absolutely, Willow," he said before raising his hand to forestall any counter arguments she might send at him. "I'm not saying that you haven't covered all your bases, but I'm gonna have to see how this works out in real time before I reign in my stupid White Knight complex on this. So until this rally thing is over with, consider me and Cal' two volunteers ready to help out in any way we can."

It was a good thing his back was to Deathbird because, if he had seen the look on her face, he would definitely have started inching towards the door.

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_**The Next Day, The Jackson Center, Main Convention Hall, Morning**_

_Is she his new girlfriend or not?_ Willow thought as she watched the woman Xander referred to as Cal', or Calsie, once again covertly looking at the dragon-eyed former Scooby.

While she had been slightly annoyed that her longtime friend hadn't just taken her word for it that she'd be alright, she had to admit it was kind of nice to be spending some time with him again. While it had only been a couple of months since she'd last seen him, it felt like years as far as she was concerned. Looking at him now, she noticed a few changes in how he behaved and talked but where it mattered he was still the young man she'd crushed on all through high school. She knew all to well what qualities he had that might appeal to members of the female gender, but that was the **human** female gender she was referring to when she thought that. Whatever this Calsie woman was, she definitely wasn't human if the hair and the strength of the empress wannabe's fingernails were anything to go by. She'd already used her mystic senses to do a passive scan and had conclusively confirmed that the snobby woman wasn't a demon.

So if she wasn't human and wasn't a demon, then what was she?

The way she moved and acted practically roared warrior queen, since she definitely moved like she could dive into a fight at any moment to kick ass. Add to that Cal's high and mighty attitude, the description of warrior queen was definitely accurate. She had tried over the course of the morning to start up conversations with Cal in the hopes of learning more about her, but the woman acted like she was still a mousy geek in high school. While it was true that many of the things, especially magic, still interested her, Willow liked to think she'd grown since then into a more stylish young woman. She no longer looked like her mom dressed her every day and actually had the guts to wear something daring when she was in the mood to. In fact it was during one of her daring moods that she'd met Abigail at a bar/restaurant and the two of them had quickly become friends. True, Abbie was quite reserved and didn't let her true emotions show on the surface very often, but for people who knew her for longer than three months they could pick up on a few of her tells in order to make a fairly accurate guess at how she was feeling. From there they'd both gotten into the mutant rights scene and had been together pretty much ever since. In fact, she had been contemplating taking the next step in her plan to see if her current hypothesis about her sexual orientation was accurate.

After all, she was a perfectly healthy bisexual girl and had been one since she first drooled over this other redhead during one of her rehab sessions. However the real problems cropped up when she tried to explore her inner feelings by getting close to certain young women that she found pretty. There were no tags hanging from their necks showing what their sexual orientation was or anything, so it was literally Russian Roulette in choosing who to make moves on. While her previous attempts to find a fellow bisexual hadn't ended very well, the signs she was getting from Abigail were promising in her opinion. It hadn't quite gotten to the kissing stage, but was about halfway through the companionable touching that went beyond simple friendship, like the thighs or upper arms.

While Willow was miffed at how Calsie treated her, she was still determined to figure out what the woman was and what her intentions were towards Xander. After all, it wasn't just the covert looks the woman was giving her former study buddy that tipped her off to something more, but also how she behaved around him. While she was positively frosty towards her and Abigail, towards Xander she seemed almost polite as well as respectful. She still went all drill sergeant on him occasionally when she thought the California-turned-New-Yorker behaved in a way contrary to her beliefs, but there was a definite difference in behavior.

As far as Xander was concerned, there was definitely the clichéd warrior's respect present (she personally think he was trying to imitate behavior he saw in those Hercules and Xena shows), but she didn't see any signs of romantic interest. He looked like he wanted to be Cal's friend, maybe even good friend, but nothing approaching boyfriend levels of closeness. That left her wondering if the attraction was one sided, like it'd been with her when she had a crush on the young Harris boy. If that turned out to be the case, she'd definitely have to have a talk with Xander later because Calsie didn't look like the kind of person that would be content to wait until he noticed her. No, the woman with the weird hairdo looked more like the 'want, take, have' type who'd react badly if her advances were not returned or her prize was denied to her. Given Xander's luck, he'd probably be completely oblivious to her advances until she did something spectacularly blunt and then try and squirm out of it if he didn't feel the same about her by then. She should probably have a word with him before he left after the rally to at least give him a clue on what was really going on.

_Here's hoping she isn't the type that eats their mate on the honeymoon._ Willow thought as she decided to go to her temp office to do some paperwork.

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_**The Day of the Mutant Rights Rally, The Jackson Center, Main Convention Hall**_

_**Noon**_

_So far, so good._ He thought watching the crowds for any sign of suspicious or extreme behavior, _Maybe this will go off without a hitch after all. _

It had been a few days since he'd arrived to try and talk his best friend out of talking at the rally but here he was, right where he started both argument-wise as well as geographically. He had tried here and there to broach the subject with her in the hopes that he could budge her little by little until she agreed to his request. Sadly Willow's resolve face came out each time and the only thing he managed to do was cause her to roll off in a huff of anger or annoyance. The demonstrations of the security measures had impressed him but not enough to convince him to head on back to the X-Mansion with Cal'. After all, he'd seen with the X-Men and experienced defending the Hellmouth, so he knew better than to think that there was such a thing as an absolutely secure building. Ms. Jones might have covered most of the bases but he was sure that if the intruder was skilled enough, he/she/it could easily still get the job done. It was his hope that with him and Cal'Syee here to provide backup for Abigail's own security force, any assassin or bigot who tried anything would find themselves with a face full of fists before they could try anything.

Hearing the storm of speech begin to lessen noticeably, he looked towards the stage and saw Ms. Jones wheeling Willow up to the center of the stage. With a mini-microphone pinned to the lapel of her business suit, he had to admit his longtime friend looked quite official. Still, he couldn't spend too much time admiring how she looked on the stage since from here until she left the spotlight he had to be on the alert as never before. If there was any time for an assassin or a hate-filled idiot to make a move, it would be then since the stage would give the killer a clean line of sight to his/her/its target. His first idea was that it'd be a sniper situation and that was why he'd asked Deathbird to head to the rooftop and keep an eye out for suspicious characters. He'd impressed upon the Shi'ar woman that if she did come across some kind of assassin, that he/she/it was to be taken alive if at all possible. While he personally didn't care about the fate of someone who'd dare to hurt or kill his Willow, he knew that the death of a normal human at a mutant rights rally by abnormal means wouldn't be of the good. It had been difficult, but he'd managed to persuade her by including the fact that it'd only cause her trouble with the city's costume set. The high and mighty woman might have been a tad bloodthirsty, but she wasn't stupid enough to attract the wrong kind of attention to herself.

_She sees herself as the epitome of a true warrior and ruler, so doing something that wouldn't benefit her or make her look like an amateur would be out of the question._ He thought as he continued to pan his eyes back and forth over the crowd in front of the stage, _I might not know her well enough to know what she's thinking, but I know enough to have a pretty good idea of where she won't go or won't do._

"Thank you all for coming here today. I know that some of you are longtime supporters of the mutant rights struggle while the rest of you are merely newcomers interested in hearing what the speakers have to say on the subject. Therefore, let me begin by stating the simple message I will be trying to get across during my presentation just so there's no misunderstanding." Willow said to the crowd without sounding condescending or offensive, "MUTANTS ARE HUMANS! Contrary to what many narrow minded and fear dominated bigots would have many of you believe, mutants are every bit as human as you are. Unique abilities and unique appearances **do NOT** a monster make. A person can only be called a monster based on actions that they consciously make and have an undeniable choice in. Given those parameters, then it can easily be said that it is the bigots and racists among both mutants as well as humans that are the monsters."

_That's good, Willow. Keep them pinned down with logical thinking and reasoning._ He thought as he continued to survey the crowd for anything out of the ordinary, _Just stay away from anything that might piss the anti-mutant bigots off too much._

"People like the so-called Friends of Humanity or the often rumored about Church of Humanity are the ones who deserve the label monsters! They don't even bother to try and appear to be acting out of self-defense! No, they simply attack anyone they suspect of being a mutant without any provocation whatsoever." Willow declared putting a little of her own anger into her voice, "They claim to be protecting mankind from the mutant menace or getting justifiable revenge for past wrongs committed by mutant criminals. If they were truly interested in revenge or even 'justice', as they sometimes call it, they would seek out the actual perpetrators of the wrong rather than unleashing their anger on weaker more accessible mutants."

_Hoo-boy! The hate mongers aren't gonna like that one bit!_ He thought as he could just picture their faces going purple with rage, _I should have known that Willow wouldn't pull any punches in her speech! Especially not on a subject that gets her all riled up!_

"All that such actions prove is that they are cowards! After all, only a coward would prey upon those weaker than themselves or who have no hope of defending themselves! Granted there are mutants that fall under that definition of behavior but I think it's safe to say that it is the humans that outnumber the mutants in that area." Willow said with growing passion in her voice, "After all, it is a matter of record that the ratio of normal humans to those possessing the X-gene leans overwhelmingly in favor of the normal humans. That being the case, there is also recorded incidents that I would like to tell you about and show you where it was the presence of bigoted normal humans that caused destruction that the yellow media attributed to mutants."

From there Willow brought up picture after movie after audio recording wherein she made it abundantly obvious that it was people like the Friends of Humanity that were responsible for the loss of life or mindless destruction in incidents attributed to mutants. Looking at the reactions in the crowd, Xander could see the mutants agreeing or at least listening to the words of his friends, but from those he suspected to be human the reactions were a little more iffy. Some of them looked shocked at the revelation that people just like them had been responsible for such carnage, especially when Willow showed them files the redhead had no doubt hacked out of 'no civilians allowed' areas. However this only made it easier for the more open-minded among the crowd to believe her version of events, or at least give her version substantially more weight than the one shown by the media at the time. Even he had to admit that the logic and reasoning she put behind her version of each incident definitely seemed to be undeniable, but just the same he was sure those anti-mutant people could come up with an equally convincing counter argument. In the end, it all came down to each individual person's own personal opinion or decision on which version of the truth they'd choose to believe. Just like Obi-wan Kenobi had said 'a great many of the truths we cling to depend on one's own personal point of view', and he was right. One person's truth could be another person's lie. There was no absolute truth out there, just each person's version of it.

_Still, it didn't look like there was anyone at the moment who was about to charge the stage to attack Willow and no one seemed to be wearing a coat three sizes to big for them to indicate a couple sticks of TNT strapped to their bodies, so I think I'll describe the situation as good._ He thought maintaining his strict surveillance of the crowd nonetheless, _Hopefully it really will have been a case of my overactive paranoia that made me come here._

"So, as you can see, ladies and gentlemen, while there are certainly some mutants out there who are dangerous and should be locked up, they are few in number when compared to normal humans that need a harsh lesson in consequences." Willow said as the images on the projection screens vanished, "That is where I hope that all of you will come in by either attempting to show those intolerant members of the Friends of Humanity and like-minded organizations the error of their ways or deny them your aid in their irrational crusade. Thank you!"

There was clapping throughout the room as the audience of mutants and humans really did seem to appreciate the speech that his best bud since preschool had just given, but his alert level instantly jumped to Defcon 1 when he picked up a distinctly contemptuous clap among the crowd of genuine respectful ones. Panning back and forth among the crowd, he tried to pin down the jackass who couldn't keep his opinions to himself. It took almost four passes and the majority of the crowd to stop clapping themselves but eventually he managed to pick out the person responsible. It actually turned out to be a woman, but it was obvious from the look on the bitch's face where she stood on the mutant topic. With that in mind, he began to covertly make his way through the crowd to get into a position more favorable to intercepting the bitch should she try anything.

"An impressive performance, Ms. Rosenberg. A pity those documents from the police and military are probably as genuine as the chest on your bodyguard there." Ms. Bitch said with contempt and scorn in her words, "Still I must congratulate you on some excellent forgeries. To the untrained eye, they looked completely authentic."

"I assure you they are quite authentic, ma'am. Any member of the military or police would be able to confirm their genuine nature. I even have the location of each file in the police or military databases that you could use to confirm that what I've shown is the genuine article." Willow said, the picture of politeness, even though he could detect some annoyance at the accusation that she'd actually falsify data.

"Sure it is, Ms. Rosenberg." Ms. Bitch said making it clear by her tone she didn't believe a word, "Still, in this day and age, it's possible to falsify or forge just about anything. Still, it does make one question the validity of your 'evidence', but it does make one thing clear."

"And that would be?" Willow asked with barely restrained anger.

"YOU'RE A TRAITOR TO YOUR RACE! DIE!" Ms. Bitch bellowed before throwing off her coat to reveal high tech cybernetic implants and lethal-looking weapons.

With excellent reaction time, he had to respect Ms. Jones immediately transformed into a metallic being that he hoped was made of either Adamantium or Vibranium. Given how powerful some of the cybernetics and weaponry looked, he doubted anything less would do. Leaping off the stage towards the cyborg, yet angling her flight through the air so that at no time did the assassin have a clear shot at Willow, Jones drew back a fist and attempted to add a few dings to the malcontent's metal chassis. Despite the existence of cybernetics and some probably very heavy metals, though, the assassin proved to be quite fast and agile herself by evading Jones' first strike. The failed first attack did enlighten him about one thing and that was the second benefit that Abigail's power afforded her. Not only did it allow her to take on the durability of metal, but it also gave her a sizeable super strength boost seeing as how her fist shatter the floor where the killer had been standing like it had been made out of toothpicks.

_Gotta end this quick!_ He thought as he began to move to assist Ms. Jones, _Before Robo-Bitch gets a chance to show us all her fancy new toys!_

Just as he was about to charge the assassin from her flank, he noticed something that halted him in his tracks.

A little red dot that was slowly climbing towards Willow's head and that was undoubtedly its ultimate destination.

A fan of many an action flick, he had no doubt what it meant.

"WILLOW! GET DOWN!" He yelled before changing his charge from the assassin's location to Willow's position, "SNIPER!"

"Don't worry, Xander, the spell is still in effect. No one within seventy-five feet…can…hurt…me?" Willow said as though her confidence in her safety went from one hundred percent to zero as some fact she'd overlooked came to her.

While the spell on the amulet might keep people from hurting anyone within seventy-five feet of her, Ms. Bitch had been eighty feet from her when she spoke up and the sniper was almost certainly one hundred feet away.

They weren't within the spells range of effect.

They could hurt her.

He had just closed to the fifty feet mark as far as his distance to Willow was concerned but it wasn't enough because it was right then that he head the cracking sound of a rifle being fired.

In that moment, all thoughts of himself or anyone else for that matter vanished.

All that mattered was saving Willow.

All he cared about was protecting Willow.

It was because of these two desires that his soul did two things at the exact same time.

He summoned his armor and he tapped deeply into the power of Kung Lung.

Like someone had just called for a simulation on a futuristic holodeck to freeze, the world around him stopped cold, leaving only him and the bullet flying through the air in motion. Through his eyes, it looked like he was still moving at a normal human pace, but looking at the bullet that was moving like a balloon floating towards its target, he knew that wasn't the case. With the frozen people around him and the bullet as evidence, he knew that in fact he was probably moving at speeds not seen in anyone aside from Quicksilver of the Avengers. However, those observations were only present on the periphery of his consciousness since all the rest was devoted to beating the bullet to its target. Once he felt he was within range, he leapt over a particularly dense throng of people towards Willow and, once he touched down, he immediately took a position in front of his longtime friend. As he brought his arms up in front of him to further obstruct the sniper's bullet, time around him resumed and, with a clang that resounded throughout the Main Convention Hall, the bullet bounced off his armored forearms. Lowering his arms, he looked back along the bullet's flight path and, without any effort, he was able to spot and zoom in on the sniper himself. He, although that was an assumption since the person was covered from head to toe and had an equipment vest on, was across the street in an apartment window with a military grade sniper rifle in his hands.

Two more shots were fired by the Sniper with both hitting the exact same spot but also having the exact same effect which is to say it had no effect at all on him. The Sniper then proved himself to be no fool since, after three failed shots, the prick knew that he had failed and would now no doubt focus on escape.

_Not __**a CHANCE!**_ He thought before he turned to Willow and asked, "Willow? Are you alright?"

"Y-yeah. I-I think I need to change my skirt and everything, but I-I'm okay." Willow replied still dealing with the fact that she had almost had her brains blown out, "How'd you do that? And what's with the Power Ranger outfit?"

"I'll explain later. Right now I have a sniper to catch up with!" Xander said, not even wincing at once again having his outfit compared with a Power Ranger, "No one takes a shot at my best friend and gets away with it. NO ONE!"

With that he willed his wings back into existence and so they came inside of two seconds, sprouting from his back with the pain barely registering in his mind. Now that his Willow was safe, all that remained was to capture the bastard who dared to kill someone near and dear to his heart. The **ARROGANCE** that person must possess to dare to take such bold action in his presence.

He would pay dearly!

As would his employers once he beat their names out of the Sniper!

Leaping with all the strength he now possessed, Xander shot through the skylight like a cannonball and once in the open air, he spread his wings using them to direct him to the window the second assassin had shot from. Without loosing an ounce of speed, he passed through the open window, landed with a thump as well as a crack of fractured planks of wood, then took off towards the still open door to the apartment. Seeing nothing in the hallway, he switched to his sense of hearing and quickly picked up the sound of running footsteps. Taking after them immediately, but not at Quicksilver speed, he started up a staircase leading towards the ground floor two at a time in order to reduce the distance between him and his prey. He had just reached what was probably the middle of the building when all of a sudden he heard what sounded like the Sniper suddenly changing his plans. Instead of continuing to head for the ground floor, the man was now heading down the hallway of the fifth floor of the ten floor apartment building. Confused but not overly concerned, Xander quickly reached the same floor and followed the elephant-like footsteps of the sniper towards the west side of the apartment building. Not missing a beat, he continued to close the gap until he turned the corner seeing the dark clad man coming to a sudden halt as though no longer intending to run.

Just as he was about to demand that the man turn around face him, blood sprayed out from the man's throat like a high pressure pipe that had cracked ever so slightly open. With this fine spray of crimson life, the second assassin dropped to the ground like a puppet that had just had its strings cut, clearly dead as the proverbial doornail. However instead of focusing on the dead sniper, his focus was on the woman that up until then had been hidden from his eyes by the killer's bulky muscled body. Dressed in a kimono that looked like one of those really short female bathrobes was a woman that, to the best of his knowledge, could easily fit the definition of a female ninja. With shin guards, forearm guards and a few blades strategically placed on her person, he could tell that she was a professional rather than just some amateur playing dress up. However, beyond all that, what caught his attention was that her clothes were all black with the exception of a single symbol woven into the chest area of her kimono.

The symbol of Kung Lung.

"The assassin has paid the price for daring to try and take the life of your loved one, Xander-sama. Rest assured that Ms. Jones has likewise been aided in defeating the cyborg back in the convention hall," said the Asian female ninja with a proper and reverent bow to him. "We will deal with those that contracted these assassins as well. They will all die. On that you have my word."

With that the woman bowed once more and then proceeded at a fast walk towards a window at the end of the hallway. However he couldn't just let her go, not without learning why she had intervened and why she considered punishing those that had wanted Willow dead so important. Wasn't she one of those Kung Lung followers who wanted to hasten their Lord's rebirth into this world? If so, then aiding the assassins would have done much to achieve that goal, since he had little doubt that if Willow had died in that convention hall minutes ago he would have gone insane with grief. He would have embraced the power of Kung Lung in order to make certain that those responsible would feel his wrath in all its horror. So why had she done it?

"Why did you and the other help stop the assassins?" He asked with confusion evident in his voice, "Don't you Kung Lung followers want me to lose it and release the Black Dragon King?"

For a moment the woman seemed to be surprised by his statement but understanding soon followed as her mind processed what he had both said and implied.

"There is much you do not know, Xander-sama. Those who appear to be your enemies may actually be allies and those who appear to be allies could actually be your true enemies." She replied cryptically, as per tradition with mysterious strangers, "Know that those you encountered before may have appeared to be followers of your predecessor but their true allegiances lie with others. If ever you encounter others that bear the symbol you have on the chest plate of your armor, you need only look into their eyes to determine the truth."

With that she looked at him straight in the eyes and, to his surprise, he watched her eyes go from normal human ones to slitted golden ones like those he saw in the mirror every morning. However just as quickly as they changed, they transformed back to those more common to Asian human ones leaving him with nothing but questions bouncing around his head. Thus before he could pick which one he'd ask first she turned back towards the window at the end of the hall and sprinted towards it like an Olympic athlete.

"Wait!" He cried out in the hopes of getting her to stop and answer more questions, but to no avail.

With a dive that showed him she was wearing some kind of bandage wrapped panties under her kimono, the mysterious female ninja crashed through the window before beginning her drop to the ground below. Fearing that his only source of info had just committed suicide, he ran to the window and once there stuck his head out. Looking towards the pavement below, he was shocked to see no body laying broken on the ground nor anything aside from broken glass to show what had happened to her. Looking in one direction after another, he tried to see if she had somehow flown or swung away from the building without him seeing it but saw nothing to indicate that that was the case. To this he could only say one thing.

"Why can't it **EVER** be **EASY!?**"

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	16. PsiDWar: Part 1

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the copyrighted material shown herein. They belong solely to their creators and associated companies. I make no money off of this. I write for my own enjoyment and for the potential enjoyment that those that read it might experience.

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_**Two Days Later, Airborne, Heading Back to the X-Mansion, Xander's P.O.V**_

_Two full days of Willow using her voodoo and a big fat nada looking for Ninja Dragon Babe._ He thought as he and Deathbird headed back to the mansion with their mission more or less complete, _If it turns out that I've been assigned my own cryptic stranger, I'm turning in my superhero license early!_

It had been a media uproar after the failed assassination attempt on his bestest bud and he had done his best to make sure that both he and Deathbird were nowhere to be seen until after the news hounds had left for good. A good thing from his point of view, since not only didn't he want to play twenty questions with the reporters, he also didn't want to **think** what Cal' would do if she had to deal with several microphones shoved in her face. The Shi'ar warrior was already in a foul mood thanks to being caught unawares by the sniper and getting a tranq dart in the back. He had puzzled over why the gunman hadn't just used a normal bullet and decided, in the end, that the guy probably didn't kill people pro-bono or just didn't want to risk losing his primary target. Nonetheless, it had hurt the female alien's pride quite a bit and, of course, he had to be the one she aired her complaints to. He'd tried to keep such ranting to a minimum by saying that she needed to keep quiet if she didn't want the field reporters to hear her screeching, but that only made her belly aching worse. Fortunately for him, she simmered down back to her usual charming self earlier that day, thus giving him hope for a quite flight back. Before he'd left, though, he'd given Willow the phone number to the X-Mansion and asked her to pass it along to the gang back in Sunnydale. While he wasn't planning on going back to the Hellmouth any time soon, he wasn't going to completely abandon them so he made it clear that if they ever had an emergency that required a 'calling all scoobies' flare to be sent up, he'd be there for them.

_Hopefully it won't be too often, though._ He thought as his eyes caught sight of a landmark telling him he was about half an hour from the mansion, _I don't think I can fly the entire way myself and making trips to the other side of the country by conventional means are going to be expensive._

In return, Willow had given him her own private email address should he need any assistance or just someone to confide in for one reason or another. So while his initial mission to get Willow to step down from her place among mutant rights activists, the near successful assassination attempt served as a potent warning for both her and Ms. Jones. He could practically see the 'THIS WILL NOT HAPPEN AGAIN' sign on her face and pitied the next idiot who thought about making an assassination run on Willow. No doubt they'd overhaul their entire security set-up and wind up making it the most secure rally on a fixed budget in the world. However, if that Dragon ninja girl was telling the truth, then at least the people behind this attempt wouldn't be able to pull off a second one.

Assuming she was telling the truth, of course.

If she was a member of that group of Kung Lung followers who intended to force him to resurrect their Lord, then she'd still kill the people behind the assassination attempt but only to shut them up.

In any case, he'd still keep an eye on any TV broadcasts involving her, since those would likely be the ones to attract the majority of the crazies out there. Hopefully he'd be able to either stockpile some cash for any plane tickets he needed to buy or convince the X-Men to let him borrow their super sonic jet when they got one. They had to have one, right? All super hero teams had super duper vehicles to get them from one end of the world to another for all their exciting adventures. Sure, he knew that at the moment they'd been stripped to the bone tech wise by that bastard Bastion and OZT, but he was sure it'd only be a couple of months before they restocked. Then there'd be high tech gizmos and state of the art planes galore and he'd be in Uber geek **heaven**. After all, there'd be babes, toys and excitement galore, so what more could a guy like him want out of a home!

_Not much…except…maybe…the X-women parading around in nothing but Victoria Secret bras and panties._ He thought but shook off the blue screen of death **that** imagery almost triggered, _All in all, though, I have yet to find a downside to moving in with the X-Men._

Ten minutes later, he saw the mansion below him and began his descent with Cal' right behind him, if his sense of hearing was any judge. With more grace then he usually had with flying, his feet touched the ground and he immediately banished the armor to wherever it went whenever he wasn't using it. Next came the part he absolutely hated but knew he had to do if he wanted to keep a great evil from being unleashed into the world. Taking another vial of Dr. Strange's potion, he took out a fresh needle and withdrew the prescribed amount the sorcerer supreme had set for him. For a moment he looked at the green fluid in the needle and hesitated, just like he did every single time, but like always he stuck it in quickly before his anxiety could take hold. Pressing down on the plunger, he could feel the first few drops enter his veins but from that point onward pain was all he felt as the poison went to work on the territory taken over by Kung Lung's essence. To his credit, though, he didn't cry out and only bent over a little in response to the agony he was experiencing. One minute later his wings were gone and the pain had softened to just being a dull throbbing throughout his entire body, the nastiest areas behind where his wings had sprouted. Turning to the right, he watched as Deathbird pulled her shirt back over her head and mentally wished that Willow hadn't **lost** the sweatshirt since the **replacement** hugged her curves a little more than he was comfortable with. At least with the sweatshirt, it was baggy enough that he only got the basic sense of the Shi'ar woman's curves. This one was a lot more clingy and just barely managed to squeeze through the Aerie woman's high standards in one piece.

_Any more clingy and she might as well walk around topless._ He thought as he strolled towards the front door of the mansion.

As he reached for the door knob, he wondered what the others had been doing since he and Deathbird left for New York City. Looking briefly around, he couldn't see any signs of battle or anything, so if something did happen it must have happened a fair distance away. Once inside, he didn't see anything else either that would indicate any mutant hero hijinks occurred, so he guessed they must be experiencing something like the summer lul like the Scoobies did every summer. However it was as he passed the living room that he caught the first sign of trouble and wondered if he'd be able to sneak by Logan, who was on the couch.

On the TV was a news broadcast that was showing clips of a very familiar convention center and an even more familiar face.

The convention center: The Jackson Center

The face: Willow Rosenberg.

With sentences like 'mysterious armored hero saves mutant rights activist' streaming at the bottom of the screen and 'Dragon Ranger?' in the upper right corner, it was clear that the assassination attempt hadn't blown over like he'd hoped. Like most newsworthy things, the second the killers had been rounded up the news vultures had descended on the convention center like the scavengers they were. Fortunately he'd been able to get him and Cal' clear of the area before the vultures cornered them and stay hidden until the next day. When this morning came with only five or so reporters still hanging around, he had hoped that the whole thing had lost its appeal or gotten shown up by some other newsworthy event. However if what he saw on the television was accurate, then the only reason there was a bare minimum of media hounds at the convention center was because they had simply gotten all the on site info they needed. Now they had moved onto making the rounds on their various snitches and sources looking for info on him as well as doing the whole 'well, this is what I think' part of the process. Holding in a sigh of frustration, he almost missed an important part of the reporter's story but in retrospect it would have been preferable if he had.

"This armored figure, dressed similarly to a character from the popular kids show Power Rangers—" stated the female news anchor person in the standard 'happy' way.

"I'M NOT A FUCKIN' **POWER RANGER!**" He yelled in frustration as he realized that, thanks to this news broadcast and probably a few others, now this comparison was all he'd hear whenever he was seen in armor in public.

While completely justified, considering the teasing or ridicule he'd get later, it also had the side effect of obliterating any chance he might have had of sneaking by Logan.

Assuming, of course, he hadn't been detected and identified the moment he entered the mansion.

"Had a little excitement in the city, kid?" Logan said, turning his head slightly and looking at the So-Cal teen out of the corner of his eye, "Care to explain?"

"Well…that is… I just heard a friend of mine was in the city and decided to go see her." He said, not divulging that he'd gone to get Willow to bow out of the mutant rights scene, "Then…welll…things just got a little crazy. Assassins, eh? Who knew?"

He was hoping that Wolverine wouldn't push too hard on this matter because he really didn't feel like explaining his connection to Willow all too much or why he didn't tell the others where he had gone. He didn't see the other mansion residents as enemies or anything, but he just didn't want to bother them with things that didn't really concern them. After all, as a mutant superhero team, he was sure that they had enough on their plates without him adding the supernatural or his own group of friends to the mix. Better that they focus on something a little more important than a former-Zeppo-turned-dragon-boy's troubles.

"Did a good job from what I heard." Logan said, turning back to the TV and the news broadcast on the screen, "Never thought that there'd be someone who could keep Deathbird from turning the place into a blood bath."

"For your information, **mutant,** I am quite capable of being discrete when I desire to be." Cal' said in a definite snit as she entered the living room in order to glare at the feral mutant more effectively, "I simply find it unnecessary in most cases. Completing ones objective is all that matters."

"Sometimes being discrete is the only way to accomplish a mission." Logan fired back, not looking phased in the slightest at Deathbird's 'nuclear glare' attack.

Deciding it would be best to get out of the line of fire sooner rather than later, Xander decided he'd use the more traditional way of finding someplace else to be.

"So where's everybody?" He asked hoping that once he found out their locations he could pick the one farthest from this powder keg in the making.

"Storm's gone into town to pick up the mail, Hank and the Doc are downstairs giving the team a once over and Maggott's somewhere on the grounds." Logan replied after taking a moment to recall the facts, "He's next on the check-up list, so Sam's taking a look around for him. Bishop, Rogue and Gambit headed off to Muir Island to borrow some spare gear from them."

"Why is Doc Reyes giving everyone a check up?" Xander asked, wondering when the Puerto Rican woman became team physician, alongside Hank.

"While you were gone we had a little fun of our own." Wolverine replied, completely ignoring the growing anger on the Shi'ar woman's face, "Had some bug faces from another dimension lookin' to move in next door. We handed them their eviction notice and they weren't too pleased about that. Doc's lookin' everyone over with Hank to make sure they're okay."

"'Kay. I think I'll head down and see if they need any help." He said before quickly heading for the stairs that leaded to the lower levels of the mansion.

Things were quickly burning to super nova levels with Cal'Syee and he was **NOT** going to do the stupid thing and be present for when she finally blew her top.

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_**The Basement Med-Lab, One Minute Later, Cecilia Reyes' Perspective**_

"Enough, Healer. I'm cold." Marrow said for what had to have been the tenth time since the examination began.

"Hush Marrow. One more, Beast, Fifteen centimeters. Fully ossified. Spawned of the eighth rib on the left side," was all she said as she continued to examine the girl with a bone chip on her shoulder. "Lord, do these hurt you when they…pop?"

"Use your imagination." Marrow replied in her usual snarky manner.

_Girl's gonna make more enemies than friends if she keeps this up._ Cecilia thought as she began to see if there were any more new bone formations on the girl's torso.

Then again, the Morlock girl had never really been all that friendly to begin with. From the time in the police department during OZT, the girl had been nothing but abrasive and mean towards everyone else in the mansion. The only people she thought she saw the bone girl acting even remotely nice to would be Sam 'Kentucky' Guthrie and maybe that Xander boy. Given how nice and easy-going both young men were, the girl probably saw them as the least threatening of everyone else in the mansion.

_Either that or she's sweet on one of them and __**BOY**__ isn't that a disturbing thought! _She thought as she tried to imagine what the girl might do in the future to woo the two gentlemen.

The girl had the manners of a saber-toothed tiger with a toothache and a temper that could go from calm to volcanic in mere seconds. Such a personality made it impossible to really get to know the girl at all and, in most cases, made her want to be elsewhere when Ms. Bonehead came into the room. Marrow probably knew it, too, and acted that way on purpose to keep people from getting to know her any better. From what Hank had told her, the girl didn't exactly have an ideal childhood growing up in those tunnels beneath the city, scrounging food out of the trash or stealing it, and forced to stay there because of her mutation. She had heard of the Morlocks off and on over the years but had never really paid any attention to them, aside from the odd moment of pity for them and the hand life had dealt them. While she didn't think that the girl sitting on the gurney in front of her was a prime example of what all Morlocks were like, it was pretty obvious that life as an outcast tended to sour people's personalities.

_However Xander might be the exception to that rule._ She thought as she recalled what she'd seen of the Californian teen since he'd come to the mansion.

It wasn't anything big that everyone would notice, but as a doctor she could tell when a scar wasn't caused by some accident or when someone acted like they were okay when they really weren't. Although not as pronounced as some of the people that had come to the clinic where she used to work, the boy still showed signs of mental and physical abuse. The way he always made a joke to distract people from some odd thing about himself and the way most of those jokes were self-depreciating in nature were definite signs of abuse. She hadn't said anything to anyone else because she figured it wasn't anyone's business but his and because he seemed to be getting better on his own without outside interference.

_Still, it might be a good idea to get him to talk about it sometime._ She thought as she concluded her bone search of Marrow, _Might give him some self-confidence and change the kind of jokes he makes. If that doesn't work, then I'll try something else._

"That bisects the T's and motes the I's in Marrow's exam, Dr. Reyes." Hank said from his place behind the curtain blocking his view of the patient, "Your assessment?"

"The Ru'Tai didn't do anything to her that an aspirin and a few band-aids can't fix. She's fine." She replied as she began to take off her rubber examination gloves, "Don't let the door hit you in the coccyx on the way out, sunshine."

"It's about time. I have matters to attend to," Marrow declared, obviously annoyed that the exam had taken so long.

"Really? Redecorating in your room?" Cecilia asked, trying to be a bit friendlier to the rough tempermented young woman, "If you need help, let me—"

"I tolerated your healthy probing and physical curiosities, Healer, but mind where you stick your nose—" Marrow snapped, flicking a finger in the Doc's face to trigger the woman's personal force field, "—or you're liable to lose it. Now move, you're in my way!"

"I was just making conversation—" she tried to say in order to calm the bone girl down before something violent happened.

"No. You're making me mad. Step aside, or else—" Marrow growled getting to her feet on the gurney with a posture of someone preparing to attack.

"Gentle ladies, please. This is a place of healing—" Hank said as he stuck his head through the curtain only to find an unusual sight before him, "Egads, woman…put something on."

She didn't even have to think to know that the blue furred Beast was referring to Marrow being essentially topless at the moment, with only her bone growths providing any concealment at all. It was nice of Hank to ask the young woman to put something on but she noticed the guy wasn't exactly averting his eyes at the sight.

_Men are pigs!_ She thought as she rolled her eyes mentally before refocusing herself on the bone girl in front of her.

"Take your best shot, Pequena." She growled at the girl refusing to back down from some ill-tempered teenager with bone problems.

"Be careful what you wish for, pretty-pretty—" Marrow said in response, making it clear that she wouldn't be backing down either.

"You know, if we had a mud pit and put the two of you in bikinis, I might be interested to see the outcome of that fight but—" came Xander's humorous voice as he turned the corner but, much like she expected, he went silent when his eyes came upon Marrow's partially disrobed form.

Then God obviously decided to go for a two-for-one since Cannonball flew in coming back, no doubt from his search for Maggott.

"Dr. McCoy! Dr. Reyes! I looked all over the mansion, but I couldn't find Maggott—" Sam declared as he came in for a landing beside Beast, "He's nowehere t'be—"

Sudden silence becoming the standard sign of a man's brain momentarily crashing, she wondered if the Morlock girl would notice this and then make sure it happened more often, just for the shock value or the golden silence it produced.

"Two sisters in the house mah **whole** life an' ah still forget to knock first," Sam muttered as he covered his eyes in an act of politeness towards Marrow.

Xander quickly followed suit with this but for probably different reasons since the Californian boy didn't seem to be quite as green as Kentucky.

"Come now, Samuel. We're all adults here. Right, Xander? I'm sure this nothing either of you hasn't seen before." Hank said jokingly before a thought occurred to him, "On second thought, I rescind that presupposition about both of you. You were saying?"

"It's not that I haven't seen a naked woman before, Hank." Xander said, not removing his hand so much than an inch, "It's just that most women tend to react violently to men gaping at their…endowments…without their permission. No offense, but I'd like to keep my insides on the inside."

"Maggott…ah told him he was next up for a checkup, but he's disappeared." Sam said obviously looking for something, ANYTHING, to keep his mind off Marrow.

"That won't do. Considering what he went through with the Ru'tai, Maggott should have been the first in line," Cecilia said, recalling how close the African mutant man came to dying on the mission.

"Go on…open them idiots…look at me…" dared Marrow, who had her arms spread in a 'here I am' position to leave her chest completely unobstructed.

Cecilia could tell that if she let them go at it for much longer it'd only get worse, so she decided to clear most of them out before that happened.

"Will you people go somewhere, please?" she asked covering her face with on hand in annoyance, "Find Maggott…go to your rooms…something?"

"Dr. McCoy?!" Sam asked pleadingly as Marrow got a bit more aggressive in her attempts to make the kid go tomato red.

"You're on your own, Samuel. I just work here." McCoy replied, chickening out like the big, strong man he was.

"What about you, golden boy? You said you'd seen a naked woman before." Marrow said as she brought back her hand to slap the So-Cal boy on the back, "How do I stack up to her, huh?"

It was when the girl did slap the guy on the back, though, that she noticed him wince quite a bit more, considering it didn't look like the Morlock girl had put a whole lot of power behind her slap. It was then she recalled that he and the alien woman had disappeared just a few days prior to the X-Men encountering the Ru'tai without any kind of explanation. Most of the others were concerned about this but had confidence enough in both of their abilities that they didn't think anything bad would happen. Their worst fear was that Deathbird might fly off the handle and starting attacking people but Rogue had said that Xander had a knack for handling the Shi'ar woman. Judging from how he was rubbing his back at the moment, though, like there was a serious bruise underneath his shirt, it looked like he ran into some trouble in the city. Most of the others would probably say that it wasn't worth worrying about if the young man didn't say anything but if her hunch about his personality was right, he could be half dead and still not say anything.

_I'd better have a look at him and see if it's as bad as I think it is or not. _She thought before saying, "You stay behind, Harris! I'm giving you a check up to!"

"Me? Why? I wasn't here—" was all he got out before she fixed him with her patented 'you do **NOT** want to mess with me' look.

"You might not have been here to get your butt whupped by the Ru'tai, but don't think I missed how you staggered from that little tap Marrow just gave you." She said, keeping her no nonsense tone intact, "Now up on that table and off with the shirt. NOW, mister!"

For a moment it looked like he would put up more of a fight but she just turned up her glare a notch and he caved like a sand castle when the tide came in. Yup, she still had it…

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_**One Minute Later, Xander's Perspective**_

_How do I get myself into these messes?_ He thought as he sat on the gurney shirtless and feeling Doc Reyes around where his wings used to be.

He had come downstairs to see if he could help Doc Reyes because he wanted to avoid getting caught in the inevitable explosion between Deathbird and Logan. However he'd experienced one hell of a roadblock when he'd entered the makeshift infirmary to find a topless Marrow standing shamelessly in front of him. Naturally he did what any gentleman would do and covered his eyes, since he didn't fancy upsetting a young woman who could literally pull daggers and swords out of her body to skewer him with. As the Morlock girl continued to try and make her two targets blush to death, he'd hoped to be able to slip out the second an appropriate distraction popped up. However, thanks to Marrow's friendly slap on the back, he now had to endure the tender ministrations of Hank's pseudo-second in command. He had tried to squeeze out but there were some things you just can't get out of and the glare she'd given him when he tried made it clear that he had no choice in the matter.

So here he was, sitting with his back to her, shirtless, with the beautiful doctor poking and probing him at random. Sadly the places she poked the most were the areas where his wings sprouted and then disappeared, so they were quite tender even though it was gradually fading. Personally he was hoping that the woman would just finish her examination and let him go because her fingers were beginning to make him feel distinctly uncomfortable. They were beginning to stray from being what he'd consider to be the clinical probing of a doctor and getting dangerously close to being **personal** in nature.

"So let me get this straight: your powers are magical in nature rather than mutation like everyone else. You got it from some kind of dragon god and every time you use it, his 'essence' spreads like an infection through your body?" Reyes asked with noticeable skepticism about his explanation, "So you use this mojo-juice a guy named Doc Strange gave you to keep it in check? That's why you're sore?"

"Yeah. Feels like I'm putting acid into my veins, but it does the job." He replied as he tried to keep his signs of discomfort to a minimum, "I can go from having scales on my face and wings on my back to normal inside of two minutes with it."

"Sounds more like some DNA-specific retro-virus than a magic potion." Cecilia said before she resumed her examination, "Still, I can't see anything overtly harmful or serious here, so I guess you're alright. I'd like to observe you next time you use the serum, okay? Maybe I can improve on it or at least make it easier on you."

"Maybe. Can I go now?" He asked looking to get out from underneath the magnifying glass that was Doctor Cecilia Reyes.

"Sure, but I meant what I said. I want to observe the immediate effects of that serum on you so I can see what it does to you." Reyes replied before an odd tone entered her voice, "You indulge my curiosity and maybe after I'll let you indulge in yours."

There were any number of ways that could be taken, but if there was one thing he'd learned from his encounter with Callisto, it was not to jump to conclusions or let his hormonal teenage brain paint the picture for him. So instead he decided to laugh like it had been a joke, put his shirt on and then walk casually out of the door before the old Harris luck got him in trouble again. As he headed back for the stairs, he heard the chuckling behind him and inwardly sighed as this noise made it clear that Dr. Reyes hadn't been saying what he'd thought she was saying before. It was a relief to him because, while she was definitely beautiful, he didn't delude himself into thinking that there'd be anything more than friendship between the two of them. For one thing, she was a good ten or so years older than him and she didn't seem like the type to be comfortable with cradle robbing. Even if by some chance she **was** okay with the major age difference, he wouldn't be entirely comfortable if she started putting the moves on him. Sure, the idea of having a beautiful woman showing significant interest in you had its appeal, even if she is somewhat older, but there is such a thing as a limit. After all, while he could probably hang with a woman who was as far as five or six years older than him without turning any heads, anything past that would definitely earn the two of them weird looks. Personally, to him, it'd have been like the look most people gave some old fart whom had wife young enough to be his grand-daughter in that no one would be able to understand why the two were together.

_So while the sex would probably be good, I don't think I want people to think I'm even more of a freak then they already do._ He thought as he reached the top of the stairs.

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_**Two Hours Later, The Loft of Ororo Munroe**_

He knew he hadn't exactly been invited to this little gathering of X-people but, given the urgency behind the assembly, he could only imagine that something big had happened. Settling up against the door, she waited to hear the explanation about what had gone wrong and how it involved the X-Men.

"So what's happened, Ms. Munroe?" Sam asked in his usual polite way.

"I received a parcel in the mail. In it was a sand statue that carried a message from a woman very dear to me." Storm replied, her voice troubled yet still strong.

"Who was she?" Doc Reyes asked with polite curiosity.

"Her name is Ainet…and in no uncertain terms…" Storm replied with a voice of remembrance, "…she saved my life. When I stumbled into the Kilimanjaro valley, I was little more than a street urchin who knew something about everything, most of it wrong." Storm replied as her mind journeyed into the past, "I was certain that I had deciphered the secrets of life, just as I had mastered the arts of lock picking and pick pocketing…that all I would ever need to survive was a crust of bread, a trusty pick, and my thick skull.

"I was so foolish. Luckily Ainet saw past the considerable chip on my shoulder and taught me that I knew nothing. She gave me shelter, reminded me of the things a life on the streets forced on to forget—trust. Respect. Dignity…" she said letting everyone know a little more about whom she was and where she came from, "And when others learned of my mutant powers and thought me a goddess, Ainet knew I was but a frightened child in need of a home…a family. Though she could never replace my beloved parents, she became a second mother to me.

"So imagine my shock when I received a package from my homeland…from Ainet, only to find it containing a desperate appeal for help. A living statuette in her image, calling out to me, begging for my aid…" Storm said, her true love and concern for her surrogate mother coming through loud and clear, "…and then a horrible nothing, as the figure returned to mere sand. Ainet is both a village priestess and a magician…and a good one. I would recognize her spells anywhere. If she was so desperate as to send a totem like that, I fear for her life. I must depart for Kenya immediately…and I do not expect any of you to accompany me on this journey. This is my trouble…my burden…not a problem for the X-Men."

"Ororo, if you expect us to hang back after a story like that, then I think you juggled one too many lightning bolts." Logan said making it clear where he stood on the matter, "Play it yer way, but know that I got yer back."

"I know it is useless to argue…so thank you, Logan." Ororo said, knowing that nothing could dissuade the feral X-Man once his mind was made up.

"Talking statues? Magic--? She serious, Sam?" Dr. Reyes asked as she looked down at the pile of sand that was once a statue.

"After what you survived with the X-Men so far, you gotta ask?" Sam said as he ran his fingers through the sand piled on the loft floor, "You really are a skeptic, Doc Reyes…"

"Back home we called it Sunnydale Denial Syndrome. People were living in demon central but didn't see a thing because they didn't want to see it." Xander said explaining why people were so quick to dismiss or rationalize the supernatural away, "People like a world where they can understand everything, where everything follows rules that are easy to understand, and nothing is beyond their control. Demons and the supernatural don't follow the same rules as science and not everyone is capable of understanding how it works. So it's easier for people to just ignore what they don't want to hear.

"In any case, count me in too, Storm. I've never been able to stay on the sidelines so it doesn't make sense to start now." He said with his trademarked lopsided grin.

"Thank you, Alexander." Wind Rider said with a grateful regal smile.

"Well, Maggott? I'm waitin' t'hear you chimin' in—" Logan said from behind the man with the metal slugs, "—figure a stud like yerself'd be chompin' at the bit to help a damsel in distress."

"Ag, yeah…of course, Maat…after all you've done for me an' the girls…how can we say no?" Maggott said with serious lack of feeling in his words, "I mean…who doesn't want t'go back t'africa? I love it there…**really**…that's why I left."

"Ah'm there, Storm…always did want t'see the village you grew up in---" Sam said with a farm boy smile if ever there was one.

"Um…question…are there going to be monster demon dogs this time? If there are, I have a few issues," Cecilia said, sounding like Willow for a moment when the Scooby gang first formed and the redhead was unsure if she really wanted to see demons much less fight them.

"Worry not, Doctor…" came a recognizable voice from both nowhere and everywhere, "…we won't let any of the wee beasties that go bump in the night get to you. Unless you want us to, that is."

Looking around for the source of the voice, he didn't have long to wait before he found it and instantly he knew both who it was as well as how the team planned on getting to Africa. For a moment he was as leery as Doc Reyes about the mission because he remembered all too well what it felt like traveling by shadow. It was uncomfortable, disorienting and required a massive amount of will power to keep from blowing chunks once you got to where you wanted to go. Personally, he would have preferred to travel via superhero super sonic jet but since the X-Men were all out of those at the moment, he supposed he had no choice but to go on the amusement ride from hell once again.

"Psylocke! Thank you for coming so quickly, Elisabeth." Storm exclaimed once the purple haired woman finished coming out of the shadows.

"Sam? H-how did that woman just melt out of the shadows?" Reyes asked sounding seriously spooked by the entrance made by the ninja X-Woman, "And how does she know me?"

"Psylocke's a telepath, Doc. She has no problem with names. As per the rest…can't say that I have a clue." Sam replied scratching the back of his head, "Creepy, huh?"

"Oh, no…perfectly normal. Yup." Cecilia replied, proving once and for all that she was a terrible liar, or at least she was when under stress.

"So…are we ready to queue up and climb aboard the Braddock Bullet to Kenya?" Psylocke asked with an amused smile on her face.

"Wait…to get to Africa…we're going to do that?" Doc Reyes asked, sounding like she wanted to be elsewhere pronto, "I think I'll walk, thanks."

However it was when Xander sensed a rather tingly sensation in his feet that he realized that the British Asian woman hadn't bothered to give anyone a chance to bow out if they wanted to. Already everyone present in the room was beginning to sink into the shadows beneath them and, while all the seasoned X-Men were treating it like it was old hat, Reyes looked like she would start hyperventilating any moment.

"Actually, Ms. Reyes, you're doing it already." Psylocke said with a weird hand gesture he hoped meant she had everything under her complete control.

"I'M SINKING INTO THE FLOOR!! I'M SINKING INTO THE FLOOR--!" Doc Reyes began to scream in fright at the sight of her legs almost being shin deep in the floor already, "Am I supposed to hold my nose or something?!? Nobody taught me how to do this!"

"Nothin' t'learn, Cecilia…" Sam replied holding the woman's hand in an attempt to comfort her, "…it's just like fallin' off a bike…"

"You've done this?" Reyes asked sounding a little better but still frightened.

"Sure! Reckon ah used to t'teleport like this three, four times a week in the old days." Cannonball replied, sounding supremely confident in the safety of what they were doing, "Course…back then it was a puddle of light instead of shadow…and we had t'stop over in hell anytime we wanted to get anywhere—"

"Not helping, Kentucky…" Reyes growled, unaware that the farm boy had succeeded in distracting her from her current predicament a bit, "…definitely not helping."

"So, Wolverine? Where'd Deathbird go?" Xander asked, wondering were the ever irritable Shi'ar Regeant was, "She's always eager to kick ass so I figured she wouldn't want to miss out on a potential kick ass fight like this."

"She went out to get some air after we finished talkin' about the finer points of people skills." Logan said as he pulled the mask portion of his costume over his head.

"So basically you two got all the way to the yellin' at each other, she stormed off in a huff and you have no idea where she is at the moment?" he asked, knowing exactly how a confrontation between those two likely went.

"Pretty much." Wolverine replied, not sounding one bit concerned about the Aerie woman.

By this point the majority of the team were up to their necks or noses in the floor with only the taller ones, like himself and maybe Storm, still with their heads above the shadows. It was as his view of the loft faded to black that he heard the familiar voice of Marrow speaking and knew this could not end well.

"Well, well, well…looks like the pretty-pretties forgot all about Marrow…" she said half sarcastic and half angry, "So happy they are to have me in their home they forgot to invite me on their little mutant games—could make for some interesting exploring time. Perhaps an hour or two fro some redecorating of the wind-rider's room…Morlock style."

Fortunately Logan had a longer reach than one might have thought and promptly yanked the Morlock girl into the shadows with them.

BOY!

Wasn't that a headache in the making!

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_**Unknown Amount of Time Later, Near Storm's Village**_

"If I've said it once, I've said it a hundred times!" he muttered to himself as he tried to will his senses to come back into focus, "I HATE TRAVELLING BY SHADOW!!"

Getting to his feet and his head getting better by the second, Xander found that just about everyone was there with the exception of their Brit travel agent and Wolverine. He wasn't sure exactly what to make of that but he it didn't worry him all that much, since he knew the feral X-Man could take on just about anything and survive. As for Psylocke, he might not have known as much about her as he did Logan, but he was sure she'd be able to take care of herself as well. The X-Men didn't have pushovers on their team.

"We're in Africa. Just like that. No tickets to save for. No schedules to juggle…" Reyes said in amazement at what had just transpired, "Just 'poof' and we jump five thousand miles in a heartbeat—"

"It's hot. Too bright." Marrow complained, sounding like she was doing it both to state her feelings and to annoy Storm, "What are we doing here anyway, wind-rider?"

"We have come home, Marrow. My home…" Ororo replied stoically and no doubt trying to keep her emotions on a leash around the Morlock, "and the sky be praised, it is just as wonderful as it is in my dreams."

With that the group began its march into the town itself and, while the heat was definitely unpleasant for him, he oddly found that it didn't bother him as much as he thought it would. It was true that as a native Californian he was no stranger to heat, but he had figured that the kind of heat he experienced back in Sunnydale and the heat in Africa would be substantially different. Instead he found that while it was a bit hotter than he usually liked, it was not completely unbearable.

Looking around the town, he saw that a lot of weird tribal masks had been put up here and there. Unless he had been half asleep during that one research session back on the Hellmouth, they were masks of the trickster Anansi and that put him on edge as it gave him a clue about the threat they would face. If the threat to this village really was Anansi, then trickery and deceit would be the name of the game, making staying alert as well as observant important. The key to seeing through any deception was being able to find the flaws in the deception as soon as possible. No one could make a perfect deception, there was always a chink in the armor, so one need only find the flaw to render a lie useless.

"Hey gang? Don't you think we oughtta look for Wolverine and Psylocke?" Sam asked, looking around the immediate area or the two people.

"Relax Maat. If you had a chance to be alone with a lekker like her, you'd take your time too, strusebob." Maggott said as he took off his heavy coat in order to deal with the heat.

While he grinned at the very idea of Logan and Betsy making out in some dense vegetation somewhere in the area, Xander knew that that wasn't the case. Psylocke had a thing with Mr. Wacko Wings Worthington and Wolverine wasn't the type to poach on another man's territory no matter how enticing the prey. So, with no further concern about the two missing people, he fell in line with the others as the walked further into the village towards the center.

"This is where you grew up? Where's the golden palace?" Marrow asked, obviously just wanting to push Ms. Munroe's buttons and snark a little, "The servants who wash your feet and comb your hair? The tributes to the high and mighty goddess of weather?"

"Contrary to what you may believe, Marrow, the only palace I've ever had is the sky…the only servants, the clouds…and the only tribute, the love of my family." Storm replied dryly as she refused to give the Morlock girl the satisfaction of a heated response.

_Though you'd never know she wasn't a goddess from the way she behaves and moves sometimes._ He thought since he believed that the snow haired African woman definitely had a regal way about how she did things.

As they headed towards the center of town, the conversations carried on around him varied from Maggott bragging about his way with the ladies, Sam not letting up on the idea of going to look for Wolverine and Psylocke and Marrow taking every opportunity to poke at Storm's last nerve. It was both disturbing and comforting to know that, despite certain differences, the Scoobies and the X-Men weren't all that different in how they behaved. They weren't these larger than life heroes that he couldn't hope to be like or hang with no matter how hard he tried. They were just people, friends in some ways and family in others, all trying to live their lives together and do what they think is right.

"X-MEN! QUICKLY!" Came Storm's cry, waking him up from his thoughts and letting him know that he had unconsciously let Storm and Marrow get quite a ways ahead of him.

Running full tilt, it didn't take him long to reach the center of the village but what he saw immediately had him on edge since a circle of people in a veritable trance that didn't look like any of them had moved in days creeped him out. They were all arranged in a perfect circle and kept repeating the name of the spider trickster over and over again without pause. They stunk and flies were dancing from one filthy body to another, but from what his eyes could tell them, once he tapped into the Dragon King's power a little, that they were all alive, if rather weak. He watched as Doc Reyes went into full doctor mode examining one villager after another for medicinal reasons for their current state.

"Dilated pupils, irregular heartbeat—" Dr. Reyes said as she continued her physical examination of the villagers, "—some sort of drug perhaps, mass poisoning?"

"Where is Ainet? I do not see her—" Storm asked with obvious concern for her surrogate mother.

"I don't think its drugs doc…" Maggott said as his slugs Eany and Meany were throwing up a bit of a fuss, "The dolls are getting skittish…lately they only seem to get in a dwaal like this around…well…around magic. Like…that…stuff…there…"

Seeing a distinctly afraid look on the face of the usual carefree man, Xander followed the young man's gaze until he saw the mound of sand grow higher and higher until it exploded outwards to reveal a truly hideous form. Its head was just like the masks that were arrayed around the village but the body and limbs were less detailed but no less spidery in their appearance.

_Enter the villain! _He thought with some annoyance, _Can't these bad guys just walk in normally rather than make with the dramatic entrance?!_

And also, just like the cliché, that villains always followed it looked like the baddy had a hostage as well in the form of white haired old woman who looked like she was suffering from puppet syndrome from the way she was moving.

"Ainet!" Storm exclaimed identifying the woman as her surrogate mother and upping the risk value of just charging in powers blazing.

"Greetings, Ororo, child of the sky…" Ainet said in a voice that was definitely not her own, "…so wonderful you dropped on by! Come here, girl, and don't you tarry…I've found the god that you're to marry!"

"Please, good woman…'god' is so… pretentious!" The walking talking sand sculpture said in a malevolent manner, "Just call me…ANANASI!"

"Did he say 'god'?" Cecilia asked looking more afraid by the moment.

"Jislaaik…he sure did." Maggott replied, not sounding all too thrilled about the turn of events.

"God of drama, maybe, but I've met demons scarier than this." Xander said, sounding distinctly unimpressed even though internally he was getting a very bad feeling about this baddie.

"Ananasi…?" Storm asked not quite in with the believers but not in firmly with the non-believers either.

"God…**right**." Marrow said before spitting on the ground making it abundantly clear where she stood on the matter.

Fortunately, or unfortunately, depending on one's point of view, Storm's indecision didn't last long and as dark clouds began to form overhead, Xander got his first clue about how the weather witch was feeling. Feeling like it'd probably be a good idea to armor up, he summoned Dr. Strange's gift and extended both the finger blades as well as the foot blades. He wasn't sure what role he'd have in dealing with this baddy, he hadn't been involved in any X-Men team training sessions, but when Ororo gave out the assignments he'd trust her judgment. Hearing a sickly sound of flesh moving and bone scraping against bone, he turned to see Marrow pulling two bone blades from her body and, in all honesty, he was a little sick at the sight. Still, at least it meant that he wasn't the only one expecting a fight to break out at any moment.

"Let **her GO.**" Storm growled out as arcs of lightning began to dance from dark cloud to dark cloud.

"Oh, you were soo right, old mother…she is a feisty one!" Ananasi said, sounding like he'd already one and it was all over except the gloating, "A delicious queen for this old spider…but we're going to have to work on her delivery. When confronting a being of immense power and ageless evil, the hero is supposed to ask, 'what do you want?' At which point I, being said evil, reply, somewhat clumsily—"

"'Across the globe, I had Ainet send out a summons you were sure to get—" Ananasi said as it/he leaned closer towards Ororo, "—a call to a goddess, a desperate plea, to bring fresh blood to my kingdom…a bride here…to me.' At which point I shift down to a raspy gasp of a voice, and explain without delay…that I intend to absorb your legendary power, as I have absorbed the souls of your people.

"Then its cackle cackle cackle, 'I want your power…your life…your soul.' Badda bing, badda boom. Now you try to stop me." Ananasi said bringing his little villain rant to an end.

"Of that, foul trickster, you can be certain." Storm growled out as she rose into the air on winds of her own creation with the sky looking seriously pissed off, "We will try…and we will succeed!"

"Sure don't sound like a god…" Maggott remarked, sounding like he'd gotten a little of his old courage back.

"Nope. Sounds like dead meat." Marrow said, indicating that she wasn't worried in the least.

"Yep. Nicely portioned off and ready for delivery straight to the maggots." Xander said in agreement as he chose to target spider-guy's limbs if Storm didn't give him other orders.

"Hey! Storm, sister? What should we do?" Dr. Reyes asked, obviously not thrilled about waiting for the wind-rider to make up her mind.

"Do I have to choreograph this entire production?!" Ananasi asked rhetorically with frustration, "You go and look for the others, of course. Amateurs."

With that he perceived a surge of energy like none he had ever felt but this perception only lasted a moment before that power slammed into his mind full force. It felt like something was trying to rip his soul right out of his body and it was so painful that there wasn't even a token defense he could bring to bear. As consciousness faded and his senses fell silent, the only object that could even come close to being called a thought flitted across his consciousness.

Oddly enough it was three simple words.

I **HATE** Gods.


	17. PsiDWar: Part 2

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the copyrighted material shown herein. They belong only to their creators and associated companies. I am making no money off of this. I write purely for my own enjoyment and the potential enjoyment for those that choose to read my work.

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_**Between Here and There**_

Groaning with the lingering pain from whatever had assaulted him, Xander opened his eyes to see only a world of darkness with a sort of bluish light providing the bare minimum illumination for his eyes. Using his arms to help him move into a sitting position, he quickly realized that he was back in his civilian clothes rather than the armor he remembered putting on before everything went black. Had this Ananasi thing banished it? Or had it been destroyed by the onslaught of power that had brought him here? He wasn't certain but he definitely not getting any good vibes from his new surroundings, which could only mean trouble was in his future.

"Whoa…I feel like I pulled a ninety-six hour shift in the E.R…where are we?" Dr. Reyes asked and he turned to see her laying nearby with Maggott and Marrow.

"Ag, hey, not so loud, Cecilia…my brain's still ringing…" Maggot whined, sounding like most people would while recovering from a hangover after an all night drinking binge.

"That's it…no more space shadow traveling…no more mystery locales…I want **blood**." Marrow growled having very much woken up on the wrong side of the bed, "I want **a LOT** of blood, and **spleens**. Spleens pop nice—what?"

However by that point no one, not even he, was really listening to the Morlock girl's ranting because, from where he was standing, Marrow was no longer a Morlock girl but a MAXIM girl and in a big way. Gone were the bone growths that had marred her appearance and instead sat who he imagined Marrow would have been had mutants never come to exist in the world. Quite frankly, she was a knock out with oh so kissable lips and a body that would have fit right in with those young women on a cheerleading squad.

Definitely not something he had expected to find in such a dark and gloomy spot.

"Ah—wah—" was all Cecilia could come up with in response to Marrow's inquiry.

"Marrow—your **face**—doll, you're gorgeous!" Marrow exclaimed looking like he'd never seen someone prettier.

"What do you--?" Marrow asks but, before she can finish her sentence, she noticed the changes as well, "My…my bones? They're gone…! It…doesn't even hurt anymore…"

"That, child, is because the popular axiom is a falsehood…" spoke the familiar voice of Ananasi as the spider god faded into being, "…the truth never hurts…and this is the true you, Marrow. Beautiful, pain-free, without the uncontrollable growth of bone…just as Alexander needs no longer bear the burden of the Black Dragon King and Maggott no longer needs those hideous slugs—"

"Watch your mouth, **windgat**…where are we?" Maggott growled, offended that his girls had been both insulted and taken from him.

"You have come to a place where truth lives…where lies are stripped away…" Ananasi replied, reaching up to the mask that was his face to remove it and reveal a more human but also more ominous face, "Where masks come undone…and people are seen for who they are. Since your four have not yet been tainted by the X-Men's lies…I have deemed you worthy of this gift. Heel boy!"

It was at that command that another figure was brought into being and revealed to be Logan, butt naked, and acting more like an animal than a man with chain leash around his neck. Deciding the fact that drool was falling to the floor beneath the feral X-Man's face and that he was seeing more of Wolverine then he **ever** wanted to, Xander willed himself to look elsewhere.

"I give you your X-Men…as they truly are. Without their righteous lies and pretty costumes. I give you Xavier's dream, and show you it is a nightmare…if you'll listen." Ananasi said, looking for all the world like a benevolent being sent from on high, "So…shall we begin the dishing?"

"Cool." Was the only thing that came out of Marrow's mouth.

_Nope. Definitely not cool, Marrow._ He thought with worry as he tried to figure out the real rules of this game before he and his friends lost too much.

Ignoring the lies that spewed forth from the mouth of this unknown entity masquerading as Ananasi, he instead turned his thoughts towards piecing together what had been revealed to him so far. Fact number one: whoever this guy was, he took over the village long before Storm received the message to return home. Fact number two: by some means as yet unknown, the villain was able to put all of the villagers under some type of control using either magic or some other supernatural method. Fact number three: it was highly likely that this enemy somehow used Ainet to take physical form and that would imply that it couldn't take physical form without help. Either that or it didn't want to risk its true form to harm by being inside the danger zone. Fact number four: whoever this guy was, he had a lot of power at his disposal and wasn't shy about using it. Even with the protections afforded to him by Dr. Strange's armor, Xander had been put down just as easily as the others had. Didn't take a genius to figure out that it meant they were dealing with a serious powerhouse and that meant he had to be careful in how he played his hand.

Looking at the others, he could tell that while they weren't completely fooled by this wierdo's speechifying, but he could also tell that they weren't being as careful as they should be. When dealing with an enemy with as much power as this, the possibility that your senses and maybe your mind are being fooled with wasn't beyond the scope of possibility. So until they got wise or they all got out of here, he'd have to act as security for the whole lot of them.

It was about then that something slammed into his head like a freight train, causing him to drop to the ground like a puppet with its strings cut. It wasn't as potent as the blast that brought them all here but at the same time it wasn't a picnic either.

"Xander!! Are you all right?" Asked Dr. Reyes as she and the others scrambled over to where he was slowly recovering.

"Yeah. Don't know what just happened, but it slammed into me pretty good." He replied as the ringing in his proverbial ears stopped, "How about you guys?"

"What do you mean, maat? You just groaned somethin' nasty and collapsed." Maggot said with the same confusion in his voice that was on the faces of Marrow and Reyes.

_It was something only I felt?_ He thought with some surprise before attempting to figure out what had happened.

He supposed it could have been something to do with his Dragon King stigma, but at the same time he wondered if it wasn't something more. Whatever the case, he didn't have long to figure things out because, a few moments later, he heard a sound of discomfort coming from Marrow. Turning to the Morlock girl he could tell by the look in her eyes that she felt that something was wrong, that something was amiss, but her noticing it came a moment too late. Like a bomb had gone off in her body, bones popped out at random all over her body, causing her great pain and discomfort as she collapsed to the ground.

"Good god…! Marrow…" Cecilia gasped as she both saw the damage that had been done to the young woman.

"Why…**why!?**" Groaned Marrow from her bent over position, trying to cope with the pain she'd suddenly been bombarded with.

_This settles it! This guy is definitely __**NOT**__ on the side of the angels!_ He thought angrily at the thought of anyone or anything hurting Marrow like this just because they could.

"**Twee gat jackals!** What are you doing to her, Ananasi!?!" Maggott bellowed, clearly looking for some heads to bust up, "Turn her back, or I'll crack your guava sideways!"

"Come now, Maggott, gentlemen don't use such language when there are ladies present." Spoke the form of the unmasked Ananasi, who looked distinctly more threatening in appearance now, "And when I'm out of the union suit, its Shadow King, thank you."

_Shadow King? Not a name I've heard from the X-Men before. _He thought as he decided he might learn more if he stayed silent, _Still, it is definitely not a name that sends the warm fuzzies up and down my body._

"I don't care what you're called, monstruo! How can you be so cruel?! Don't you know how much pain she's in?" Cecilia cried out in outrage at someone knowingly inflicting such harm on someone she knew, "Her bones grow rapidly, unpredictably, uncontrollably!"

"D-don't fight my battles for me, h-healer…" Marrow managed to ground out, still holding her pride firmly in her hands.

"Yes, Cecilia REYES, I do. I feel the pain each one of you suffers and I would see it abolished. As easily as I temporarily cured Marrow's unfortunate condition, so can I help you all…" Shadow King replied with an imperious yet benevolent tone of voice, "If you would turn your backs on your true enemies, the X-Men—and pledge yourselves to me."

"Are we projecting, here? Hanging with the X-Men may be a royal pain at times, but they're good people…they're not our enemies," Cecilia managed to get out before the villain resumed weaving his web of deceit.

"Is that so, Doctor? Was it good people who tricked you out of your normal life, even after you told Xavier you wanted no part of his little school for mutants in training? Is it good people who sent Wolverine to kill young Marrow, and even now plot her demise?" Shadow King asked as he let his imposing figure get right in their faces, "Do good people harbor suspicions about an honorable man like Maggott, even after he's bared his soul to them? Is it good people who stand by and do nothing for young Alexander, who has had a burden placed on his shoulders at far too young an age?"

"You…you're just saying that," Cecilia said in rebuttal with uncertainty in her every word.

"Of course he's saying things like that!" Xander said, no longer willing to let this monster get his hooks into the others, "First rule of Satan corrupting the innocent: discredit anyone and everyone that might keep the devil from getting the souls he has his eye on. Try again, blue boy, because I have yet to see one reason why we should believe one word that comes out of your mouth."

"Oh? Odd that you would speak of truth when you keep a great many secrets for those you live with. Have you told anyone that you hold a potential harbinger of the world's end within you? Or that every time you tap into its power, you bring the monster closer to the surface?" Shadow King asked, not sounding the least bit upset, "A wise move when in the company of Xavier's followers. They would not hesitate to slay you and take that power for their own under the pretense of 'saving the world'. The X-men can give you nothing but more pain…more lies…whereas I can turn dreams into reality!

"What if those hands of Dr. Reyes' were back to saving lives instead of pounding away at Xavier's dream? Not only can I get you into the operating room, but the knowledge of the world's preeminent surgeons can be yours in but an instant." Shadow King purred as he conjured images of what he promised before their eyes, "Maggott could, under my guidance, learn to control the beasts that plague his days and wrack his body with pain. He could become the true champion he so desires to be.

"And Marrow, dear **Sarah,** can walk amongst the upworlders, as is her birthright…but pretty? Loved? Touched without pain…gazed at without pity or revulsion? I can even make it so you can wield the power of Kung Lung as you wish without ever having to worry about the dead Dragon King usurping control of your body and mind." Shadow King said with his oddly persuasive voice, "These are not empty promises, children, unlike those made by your so-called 'friends' in the X-Men. These are facts. I can give you all you deserve…create the lives you have earned through your struggle and sacrifice. All I require…is your allegiance. Discuss it."

"A surgeon…I never dreamed…" Cecilia said as her mind contemplated the pinnacle she could attain if she accepted what was being offered to her.

"No more pain…" Marrow whispered as she was given a chance to throw off the hideous stigma she'd had been forced to carry for as long as she could remember.

"Could it be true…an oke like me…a real hero?" Maggott asked as though the door to his utopia was right in front of him and all he had to do was walk through.

For Xander, though, the promise this villain offered was both not as potent and more alluring then every beautiful woman he'd ever known promising him an orgy he would never forget. While he was far from believing that a person needed super powers to fight the good fight, he had to admit that it'd be a dream come true to be able to possess power enough to protect the people he cared about from harm. However, like it always did when he was tempted to stray from the path of what was right, his memories of his parents and his friends reminded him of why he'd chosen to live the way he did. With parents like his, it'd be so easy to just fall into the same lifestyle as them, life going from booze bottle to booze bottle, but he'd promised himself after two years of beatings that he'd never allow himself to fall that far. Plus, he knew what his friends would say to him if they saw him even thinking of taking the offer from the Shadow King. Giles would warn him that the devil never made promises that benefit anyone more than Satan, no matter what the situation. Buffy would remind him that baddies couldn't be trusted, no matter how sweet sounding their promises. Willow, though, his bestest bud, she'd remind him of all the times he stood up to the bullies and those that used their power to hurt others before asking if that is what he wanted to become.

The answer came to him so easily that he felt like slapping himself silly for even considering taking this snake up on his offer.

"Sorry, pal, but I'm afraid I won't be buying that sack of shit you're selling." He said with his most annoying 'you have been beaten' smile, "If I've learned one thing over the years, it's that if something looks too good to be true it usually is. So pack your bags and get the hell out of here!"

"Perhaps you have the right to decline my offer to you, Alexander, but the rest have the right to choose for themselves as well." Shadow King stated, sounding a little annoyed that a fish had escaped from his net.

"True, but only once I have said my piece to each of them." He said before looking the creep right in the eyes and daring the asshole to show his true colors by blocking him, "After all, they need to hear both sides of the story if they're going to make a decision they can live with, right?"

He took Shadow King's silence as agreement.

Turning to Marrow, the person he expected would be the toughest to deter, he decided to be honest with her despite the potential side effects of what he was about to say.

"I know that what I know about your life in the Morlock tunnels probably isn't enough to fill a thimble, Sarah. I know you look at this as your big chance to become just like everyone else instead of being an outcast because of your mutation." He said, trying to keep his words calm but at the same time as strong as stone, "But you have to ask yourself: is this the choice a true Morlock would make? From everything I've heard and from what I've see of you since we met, Morlocks might hate the hand they've been dealt but neither they nor you strike me as the type to take the easy way out of anything."

Marrow took in his words and in her eyes he could see the fire of the Morlock spirit beginning to gain some measure of strength.

Sadly the Shadow King took notice as well.

"You have suffered enough, Marrow. All your life you have wallowed in the muck of human filth and eked out a living not fit for a dog!" Shadow King said, trying to make it sound as though she young woman had paid enough to be justified in taking this prize, "Now I am offering you your fondest wish as a reward for all the hardship you have had to endure: a pain free existence and the life you have always desired."

_Nice try, jackass but you just handed me a potent weapon._ He thought before lining up his next line of thought.

"Beauty…yeah it can probably seem like a nice thing to most young ladies. To some, though, physical beauty is useless when it comes to helping them get what they really want." He said trying to make the Morlock girl look past the surface worth of babedom, "More often then not it's the person you are on the inside that's more important then what's on the surface."

"What if the person inside is as ugly as the one on the outside?" Marrow asked, her eyes dropping to the floor in an unexpected show of vulnerability and softness.

Reaching out he cupped her chin and made her look him right in the eyes so she'd be able to see the sincerity there as well as in his words.

"The Sarah I see in your eyes isn't ugly at all." He said softly but with genuine unbridled honesty in his voice.

Seeing the inner strength swell up at his words he knew that he could count on Marrow holding out against Shadow Kings whispers.

Next he moved on to Dr. Reyes, since she'd be the next hardest in his mind since she, like Buffy, longed for a normal life free from the weird.

"Doc Reyes. You have an amazing skill that makes you more important than any warrior on the battlefield. Heroes might make the front page of a newspaper, but the healers are the ones that patch everyone up when it's all said and done." He said, trying to make her understand the value he placed on her chosen vocation, "However you should know better than even me that nothing comes for free. You've probably seen cases come and go of people who thought they could get everything they wanted and not pay the piper. How did things turn out for them?"

"You're different from them! They relied on drugs and the generosity of scoundrels!" Shadow King declared, sensing that he might lose another, "You however will have nothing but knowledge and talent at your disposal. You could become the greatest doctor this world has ever known!"

_Must be pretty worried if he's appealing to her vanity._ Xander thought before firing back his own statement.

"Is that what you really want? To become the greatest doctor in the world?" he asked as indecision played on the face of the Puerto Rican woman, "Or do you just want to help people as best you can using the skills you gained through hard work and dedication. After all, if he really did beam in all that knowledge into your head, would it really be you saving the lives or the people who he grabbed the knowledge from?"

With these words he could see the strong woman he'd come to know from encounters at he X-mansion regain her footing as well as her honor.

Last but certainly not least was Maggott.

"So you fancy becoming a real live superhero like Captain America or Thor, huh? Can't see anything wrong with that." He said, sounding like he was just shooting the breeze with a friend, "However you have to ask yourself: what makes a person a hero? Is it the flashy outfit, the powers and the snappy catch phrases? Or is it what the person stands for?"

"It would be nice in an ideal world for heroes to be able to save the innocent with words alone, dear Maggott. However we both know that the world we live in is far from ideal." Shadow King said as he tried a different approach, "In today's world, one needs strength to defeat ones opponents. Would Dr. Doom be swayed by sound morals and a strong spirit? No."

"Maybe, but if power alone was all it took to make a hero every super being on the planet would be one. A lot of hardliners would probably say that the superheroes are no different from the super villains in the long run." Xander said, trying to turn a weak point into a strong point, "The things that separate the bad guys and the good guys is usually where they draw the line and choose to do what is right rather than what is easy. So which type are you, Maggott? The kind of hero that takes the quick and easy road or one that does the right thing, no matter what?"

"You gonna do the little green dude's voice, too?" Maggott asked with a smile of respect.

"His voice I can do, mmmm! Very easy it is!" Xander said in his best Yoda voice.

As the smile grew on the young man's face, Xander could tell that he had made some respectable progress in keeping Maggott from falling victim to the Shadow King's temptations.

"Now that they've heard both sides of the story, Shadow Pimp, they can make an **informed** decision about whether or not they want to join your little group." He said, giving himself a little mental pat on the back for what he'd pulled off.

Xander knew that at best all he'd managed to do was slow their fall because, depending on how long they stayed in this hellhole, it was feasible that they might slip the rest of the way into badness. Like three people paddling against the current being given a small motorized propeller to give them just a little more power to add to their struggles. Not enough power to save them completely, but enough to hopefully double or quadruple the amount of time before going over the falls. However he had faith that the other X-Men would find a way out of whatever situation Shadow King stuck them in and come to the rescue. All he had to do was make sure that him and the others were still sane and in one piece when they arrived.

Looking at the Shadow King, though, he didn't know how much longer he'd be able to do that. He'd appealed to the gang's reason and core natures, but that would only last so long and probably be severely damaged if Mr. Blue somehow managed to get rid of him. However, if his theory was right, and there were no guarantees of that, then all he needed was to combine his imagination and will power in order to stay in the fight. It had been bothering him for awhile but it was only now when he had time to think the situation over in a bit more depth that he began to see certain clues. When he had initially woken up in this place of darkness, he had thought it might have been villain HQ or perhaps some sort of alternate dimension or something. The power he'd sensed just before losing consciousness had certainly felt capable of that but as time had gone on and Shadow King had begun to manipulate everything another possibility emerged.

The mind.

A place where anything could happen and where the asshole would be able to find all he needed in order to tempt the group of newbies into siding with him. It also would explain the environment since it didn't quite match anything he'd ever seen or heard of before. Considering that none of them had extensive training in mind throw downs, the bastard had probably found it all too easy to tip toe through their thoughts for what he wanted. However, if that was indeed the case, then why didn't the prick just manipulate their thoughts by force in order to make them his servants? The first possibility that popped up was that like most villains the idiot wanted to play with his prey before swallowing them whole. It was all just one big display of power to them! One big production to show how strong they were and how weak everyone else was by comparison. Could Shadow King be reading his thoughts even now? Letting him piece the puzzle together so he could see how hopeless the situation was? Possibly, but why would the freak let him slow his progress with the others? Could he only see some of what was in the mind of the Xan-man? If that was the case then he might have more of a fighting chance here than he realized.

"Perhaps, but not before I have delivered my counter argument, dear Alexander." Shadow King said in a voice that would not tolerate further obstruction, "However, unlike you, I have no intention of allowing my adversary to belittle my theories as I was forced to do with your own thoughts. Perhaps a brief trip to the world I can bestow upon you might bring you around to my way of thinking?"

With that a black bottomless whole came into being beneath his feet but, fortunately, he had anticipated this and countered it by putting his theory as to where they all were to the test. Bringing to the forefront an image of a hero, the Human Torch, he willed his mental self to take on the same characteristics of a body coated in flame as well as the gift of unaided flight. Sadly, while this seemed to slow his descent into the black hole beneath him, it did not stop it at all. Knowing that there was no time for hesitation, he made the choice to take things a step further and so called upon the power that might one day consume him if he wasn't careful. So it came to pass that instead of his form merely being coated in black flame, wings sprouted from his back and extended outwards a full ten feet in both directions. To these wings he channeled power, power enough to stop his descent, allowing him to rise into the air as though there was no force attempting to banish him from this land. As this happened, he could feel his eyes changing from the human chocolate brown he'd had when he'd woken up in this land with to the more reptillian kind that had become his burden. As a growl of aggression escaped from his lips, he peripherally was aware of the trails of smoke that rose up from his mouth to frame his eyes, but he paid no attention to anything but the Shadow King. According to what he'd read in every comic book and saw in every movie, a battle of the mind was one of the most intense things a person could participate in. All it took was a moment if inattention, a moment of carelessness, and a mind warrior could lose the battle literally at the speed of thought. He wasn't kidding himself, he knew he probably couldn't beat Shadow King, but this wasn't about winning as far as he was concerned. It was about buying time for Psylocke, the on-site telepath, to come to their rescue along with the other X-Men and kick some pale blue butt.

_Well here goes everything!!_ He thought and with that he willed his mental body to charge Mr. Dentist's-worst-nightmare head on.

However, unlike how it would appear, a frontal assault wasn't what he had in mind at all. He just wanted Shadow King's attention completely on him. With the baddie's focus on him there would be less elsewhere including inside of the minds of the others reducing their rate of evil infection even more. Once he was sure he had the asshole's attention, it was time to pull rabbit out of his hat to kick off the fight. Just as he was about to reach striking range of Shadow King, he kicked his will power driven speed up as high as he could get it as quickly as he could get it there. Thus, much like in some of the cheesier episodes of Dragonball Z that Jesse had 'forced' him to watch (that was his story and he was damned well going to stick to it, too), he appeared to the untrained eye to disappear for a moment, only to reappear with his fist slamming into Smiley's jaw from the side. Sadly this was enough to snap the bastard out of whatever shocked state he'd been in, turning this one-sided fight to a real struggle. Before he could pull his punch back in, Shadow King grabbed it and with a vicious knee thrust forced all the metaphorical wind out of the former So-Cal boy's sails. Then, just to put an exclamation point on it all, he could see that the mental monstrosity intended to break the arm still in his grip. Fortunately he had the ultimate way to get out of his current fix and hoped that the sicko in front of him was a fan of that particular vice or else he'd be in trouble.

Bringing one foot back he charged the leg with all the power he could before delivering a kick to the one weakness all true men had.

Suffice it to say his adversary's eyes crossed and the grip on the arm that had been threatened with serious bone breakage loosened enough for him to extract it.

Xander knew that he had to take advantage of this opening or risk the Shadow King employing a strategy or plan. Thus, with a passable imitation of Guile's somersault kick, he knocked his enemy into the air and with a surge of power to his wings he shot off in pursuit. His strategy, something that could only be called a 'plan' in the loosest of terms, was pretty much the same as in most corny kids Anime shows, which was 'keep hitting the asshole until he stays down' and, when coupled with 'keep the battle high speed', he hoped it would work.

Once he'd caught up with Shadow King, Xander began laying into the bastard with a lightning fast series of combos he hoped would keep the jerk's metaphysical brain rattling enough to keep coherent thought out of the picture. After all, like he knew from his repository, concentration and focus was everything in a battle between two minds with the victor often being the one that had the most of each.

"That's true, Alexander. Unfortunately for you, I am as an endless ocean of both compared to your bath tub amount of focus and concentration." Shadow King said but the voice wasn't coming from the punching bag he currently had in front of him but rather the world around him, "Also, as a friendly piece of advice, a battle on the astral plane isn't limited to physical combat."

With those words the Shadow King that he'd been pounding on up until then vanished and six more appeared around him looking none the worse for wear.

"However, if it's a fist fight you desire, then all I can say is: Let's Dance!" All of the Shadow Kings surrounding him said before they all shot forward at a speed greater than his own.

It was a time of pain for him as the moments between attacks, moments he might have been able to use to come up with a counter tactic, were made shorter and shorter. It was with a thunderous blow to his back that he was sent back to the 'ground' of the mental arena, slamming into it like a meteor falling to Earth. It jarred him to the core but his focus, concentration and willpower were by no means spent. It merely acted as rather painful evidence of the fact that he had to up his game or it'd be game over far too soon for help to arrive. Thus he decided to follow the asshole's lead of increasing one's numbers but, of course, he planned on doing it WAY better. All at once jump rope-thick threads of flame shot out from his fire-enshrouded form, shot out by the dozens, before taking on his rough appearance. However as each clone took form he could feel the strain of maintaining each of them and knew he would be able to keep this trick up for very long.

_Then I guess I'd better make it count!_ He thought through the strain before beginning the puppet show.

Like a well-choreographed fight scene, the duplicates he created converged on the six Shadow Kings, pairing off roughly three to an asshole. Alas with most of his focus, concentration and willpower directed at keeping them intact as well as moving, he didn't have much left to put towards strategy, so it was pretty much limited to two of his clones distracting the Shadow Clone while the third attempted to take advantage of any vulnerable spot that presented itself. This had limited success in that some hits did manage to get through Shadow Klutz's defenses but Sicko King was whittling down the number of opponents at a troublingly fast rate. Before long all his duplicates were torn to shreds, leaving him feeling the burn and the Shadow King looking as cocky as ever.

"I see you're a quick study, Alexander. However here is where we separate the Master from the amateurs!" Shadow King said and immediately blasts of sickly blue energy began to rain down on his position faster than he could evade.

For every blast he managed to miss by a hair, three more hit him center mass, with only his sheer bullheadedness keeping him on his metaphysical feet. However a stubborn young man could only go so far before it simply became insufficient in the face of overwhelming power. This point was proven all too well when the asshole cheated by extending his right arm like a dark Mr. Fantastic, transformed his fist into an anvil and slammed it into his head. This succeeded in doing what the energy blasts could not by putting him back onto his back and snuff out his flame armor, but it was through the grogginess of a devastating right hook that he saw Shadow King preparing the KO shot. With his left hand extended over his head along with his pointing finger, a ball of condensed energy of similar color to the barrage of blasts that had been hitting him earlier was growing. Xander didn't need to look into his geek vault to know what was coming his way as he'd seen more than enough techniques similar to this to know how it'd make him feel if it hit. He tried to will his astral body to move but apparently SK put more into that last hit than one would first assume. His limbs felt like lead weights and thus were slow to respond to his commands leaving evading the in-progress attack with an all-too-vulnerable target to hit.

_C'mon! C'MON! __**MOVE**_ He thought as he tried to bring together enough will, focus and concentration to get his ass moving before Toothy up there handed it to him instead.

"Now how did this scene go?" Shadow King asked with mock serious thinking before doing a classic 'light bulb switching on' look, "Ah yes,: DIE YOU PATHETIC LIZARD!!"

With that the sphere was finger flung in his direction and, by this time, it was roughly the size of a moderate sized football stadium. With growing anxiety he tried to force himself to do anything from get up and run to a simplistic roll to get out of the way of the incoming ball of death. However this only served to work against him for with panic setting in as his demise got closer his ability to focus and concentrate went out the window. Thus it appeared as though his plan to stall for time would end in failure.

At least he wouldn't have to endure the consequences of his failure.

Or so he thought.

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_**Two Seconds Later, Psylocke's Perspective**_

"You okay, luv?" Psylocke asked as she looked down to the young man she'd managed to astral teleport out of the way of the Shadow King's bomb blast.

"Psylocke?" Xander asked sounding like he still had some sorting to do in his head.

"Yeah it's me, boyo." She replied before looking him over and wincing at the wounds she saw, "You look like hell, Alexander."

It was at the use of his full name that she saw more clarity and life enter into his eyes and figured that his full name rather than 'Xander' was something of a sore spot for him. She didn't care all that much if it got his head back into the game because since she had just thrown away her element of surprise for him, he owed her. It had originally been the plan that Storm would use the black shroud generated by her new astral form to sneak by Shadow King while the monster was busy enjoying the sound of his own voice with her. She'd arrived in the area in time to see the boy knock the embodiment of evil into the air and she had to admit that, for a rookie, he hadn't been doing all that badly. However a person could only get by on raw talent for so long before experience and sheer ruthlessness takes control of a fight.

"And you look like Sauron's girlfriend but, please, call me Xander." He said with fading strain in his voice.

Raising an eyebrow at calling her the girlfriend of the energy absorbing dinosaur man it didn't take him long to review his statement and understand.

"The guy from Lord of the Rings, not dino-boy." He said, clarifying things.

"Sorry but Dark Lords aren't my thing." She said, understanding his statement before turning her attention to Shadow King who was now fully aware of the new player on the battlefield, "Want to help me teach this one a lesson?"

"Only if it's Pain and Dismemberment 101." He responded with a smile that was pretty much a 'yes' in her books.

"Then just call me Ms. Braddock, Xander, 'cause class is now in session." She said before leading the charge against Shadow King, knowing that the young man was right behind her.

Casting out threads of Psi energy, she had them approach the six Shadow King copies on an approach vector that would make one think she intended to impale the evil beings, but that was not her plan at all since that would be far too brutish for her and lacked a certain level of finesse. The fact that the bastard wouldn't have allowed such an attack to hit him was also a good reason she hadn't gone with the direct approach. Just as the threads were about to pass the point of no return, they fragmented at their tips and veered around all of the Shadow Klones before wrapping themselves tight around their targets. She knew that the threads wouldn't hold for long but that was what her 'partner' was for since, with Shadow King bound in place, dragon-boy would be able to score a hit.

She wasn't disappointed since, with a growl preceding each one, her subordinate unleashed six fireballs at each Shadow Klone, each one hitting its target. However what surprised her though was that not only did it destroy five of the clones, leaving only the original behind, but the villainous counterpart to Charles Xavier seemed to be in real pain. That in and of itself was not odd since, in a battle between telepaths, the pain felt here on the astral plane was essentially being transmitted directly to the receiver's soul. What made this different is that for some reason the wound wasn't vanishing as quickly as it should have, given how skilled a telepath Shadow King was. For the beast that only telepaths of the highest caliber could hope to face, it should have been a simple thing to wipe away the wound and end the pain, so either the bastard had decided to put a show on for them, decided to pretend to be hurt more thoroughly, or he was genuinely hurt by the flames the way fire would affect normal human tissue. She could honestly say that she'd never seen an event like that ever before on the astral plain but it gave her some hope that they might actually be able to win this one with style.

Deciding to take advantage of the Sicko King's surprise at the wound that would not vanish by his will, she formed a psi-sword and lunged in to deliver a thrust to her target's torso. However, as she had suspected he would, Amahl Farouk saw it coming in time to move but, fortunately, not enough to completely escape the attack. Instead of going through the fiend's stomach, it pierced his side, causing him to bellow out in pain before shattering the threads that bound him as well as batting her away from him. This, though, left him open to as slashing attack from Xander, who had somehow managed to grow black talons onto the tip of his fingers and thumbs. These weren't sharp objects born of the flame that coated his body, but rather it looked like his own human fingernails had been transformed thoroughly into what they were now. It was as she watched the sharp ebony talons slice into Shadow King that she realized that the wounds caused by the attack would be the same as the flames from earlier. For some inexplicable reason, the attacks used by Xander were more permanent than ones normally inflicted on the astral plane.

Mentally she reviewed the fight from before she intervened and, while they had been partially effective, the young man's attacks had been little more than annoyances for the most part. Now, though, now it seemed like they were doing **real** harm, he was hurting the Shadow King and, for the life of her, she couldn't figure out how. Shaking her head as she saw Xan get knocked away much like she had, she knew they had to keep the pressure on high with this foe or else the tide of battle would turn once again against them. Willing the single psi-katana in her hands to split into two, she once again went on the attack but, instead of a straight line, she used feints and zagging to approach her adversary. This allowed her to evade his counter moves as well as force him to actually think for a minute to try and anticipate her path of approach giving her even more time to get where she wanted to go. With this tactic it was only moderately difficult for her to leap over one of his extended razor-sharp fingernail attacks and slash as Xander across the corrupter's face. His crying out in pain was most pleasing to her ears but, as she slipped to the side to allow Xander another clear shot at their target, she spotted Storm stealthily making her way to Maggott and the others. That made keeping the Shadow King's attention focused on her and Xander all the more important since all it would take would be for the bastard to catch a single glance of the rescue to throw everything off. With that in mind, she chose to reduce the space between her and Xander's attacks as much as she could, hoping to sneak in right after the prick finished extending his arm to swat the boy away. Hopefully, though, the young man wouldn't get it into his head to do the same since she figured only she had the skill and experience to pull it off without screwing up.

Even as the two of them tag teamed the telepathic behemoth, she knew that there was an off chance everything could go pear-shaped even with Alexander's ability to inflict lasting injuries on the Shadow King. As far as she could tell, their enemy was only using his own natural telepathic powers against them but if he began to tap into the power of the minds outside the immediate vicinity he could grow in power exponentially. The psycho had the ability to tap into the minds of virtually every person on the planet and, while it would undoubtedly be strain for him, it was possible. If he did that, then the chances of the X-Men emerging victorious would go right down the crapper no two ways about it.

_Hurry, Storm! Time's running out!_ She thought before setting herself up position-wise to take advantage of Xander's next assault.

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_**Five Minutes Later, Xander's Perspective**_

_We gotta come up with a plan and fast!_ He thought as he narrowly avoided a barrage of black crystalline needles that had been fired in his direction by Shadow King, _It's getting harder and harder for me to get a decent shot in and if the evidence being shown is right, then SK is getting his act together. _

In the last three minutes their efforts to keep the big blue brute either in pain or limited to by-the-seat-of-his-pants planning had been gradually worn away. Like ocean waves tearing away at a cliff face over the course of time, Freddy Krueger's older brother was moving more strategically with every assault. It was little things at first, like rolling with a blow or taking a superficial blow in order to keep a more debilitating one from hitting, but it was getting worse. If things kept going like they were, it'd only be a matter of time before both he and Psylocke were put on the defensive for good. That could **NOT** be allowed to happen under any circumstances! Once things got purely defensive, then the battle was as good as lost as far as he was concerned. Even if they blocked his every attack or evaded it somehow odds are Shadow King had a larger power supply than either he or the purple-haired ninja did. That meant in a defensive battle he and his partner would weaken much faster then old toothpick teeth would and when they fell everyone would suffer the consequences.

_We need to put this guy down NOW!_ He thought as he diverted what he could of his mind towards that end, _Kung Lung's power looks like the way to go but what I've been doing isn't enough! I need to hit him with something more, something bigger, but that means crossing a line I really don't want to step over. _

Ever since he became the container for Kung Lung, he'd done everything he could to limit the spread of essence that use of the dragon king's power would bring about. It was true that his heart often forced him to tap into those powers in order to save lives, but even then there was a line he'd never crossed. It had always been a suspicion of his that he could not only tap into the powers of Kung Lung, but also the fire breather's mind as well. He believed that if he tried, he might have been able to access knowledge about how to implement the dragon king's powers in ways he hadn't even considered. However he'd been afraid that the mental portions of the dragon inside of him would be too difficult for him or Dr. Strange to deal with. Physical changes were easier because they were biological in nature and, thus, were more limited in what they could do to him. Memories, instincts and knowledge, on the other hand, were as ethereal as smoke as far as potions and magic were considered. Steps could be taken to narrow the focus of a particular potion or spell, but it was still essentially carpet bombing an area in a way that would both destroy his memories along with Kung Lung's knowledge. He hadn't been willing to risk nuking his precious memories along with the stuff he downloaded from Kung Lung, so he'd dropped that idea in the 'do **not** even **think** about it' pile.

Now, though, he had to ask himself if it was really worth it with the stakes being what they were.

Unless someone else pulled a rabbit out of their proverbial hat, they were going to lose this fight and probably suffer a fate far worse than anything they could imagine.

MAN!

Did he **HATE** being the universe's buttmonkey!!

Delivering another slash-punch combo to Shadow King's face, he turned to Psylocke as it would be up to her to hold the monster at bay for a while.

"I need you to buy me ten minutes. I have a plan but I need you to keep him occupied." Xander said, not even bothering to ask her if she'd do it but rather implying with the tone of his voice that it was a request.

"You've got eight. That's the best I can do against someone like the Shadow King alone." Psylocke said, sounding like she was giving him the **precise** amount of time she could hold their foe off rather than a bragging amount.

A nod of acceptance was all he gave her before they parted ways with him heading for the ground while she got up close and personal with piranha boy. As soon as he touched down, he could feel his inner geek telling him that this was a bad idea and that he should focus on getting the hell out of dodge or return to doing what he had up until then. However the side of himself that made him fight side by side with a Slayer against things that could kill him in the time it took a person to say 'oh shit' compelled him to stay, despite the danger. He had already asked Betsy to put her life on the line to buy him the time he needed to pull a rabbit out of his ass and, unless he delivered, she'd bite the big one with him likely following soon after. Thus he calmed himself and tried to find the inner center thing he'd heard so much about from Giles during Buffy's training sessions. Once found, he began to look inward in an effort to find what he sought, a skill or ability capable of putting down the Shadow King for good, while at the same time screening the info for anything particularly harmful to him.

It wasn't an easy thing to do. He compared it to a stranger walking through a crowd of starving teens with said teens wondering if the newcomer had anything nummy to eat. For the most part the teens kept their distance but, every once and a while, one of them scrounged up the courage to make a move and it often took all he had to push them away. However, with every moment of contact, he caught a glimpse of something, a memory or skill, but he rejected each one that didn't meet his needs. It seemed to take forever to find what he needed and no small amount of his nerves had been tap danced on up until then, but eventually he found what he sought. In reality the technique was just an amplification of what he could already do but it would suffice, since he didn't want to waste more time searching for something more complicated. With his attack found, he opened his eyes and allowed the information in the fragment of Kung Lung's essence to guide his movements. With a thrusting of both arms in the direction of the Shadow King, a golden circle of energy came into being, a little bigger in size than a hula-hoop. Next came the forming of the seals of power with his hands and, as he completed each one, kanji would form around the perimeter of the circle. One by one they formed and with each one a convergence of power began to form that only grew with each additional symbol that came into being. With every kanji that appeared his attack strength would become that much stronger and, given that this had to take down the Shadow King, he had to squeeze in as many as he could. As he reached eight, though, he could see out of the corner of his awareness that Betsy was beginning to lose serious ground with her sparring partner.

_Just a little more! Just a little more time!_ He thought as he tried to increase the speed at which he added kanji to the golden circle in front of him.

However it was not be as, with every move that Psylocke dodged, he could tell she was fading fast. The time to act had come and he needed only one clear shot to deliver the mother of all flame blasts at the twisted bastard behind that day's little adventure. With as little effort and energy as he could spare, he willed a fragment of the flames he controlled to fly off in the form of a bat. Implanting it with the phrase 'set 'em up', he sent it towards the X-Woman in the hopes that the Asian gal would get what it meant. Time seemed to crawl but eventually the bat reached its target and, like a switch had been flicked, Betsy began to go all out with her attacks. Potent blow after potent blow was dealt to the Shadow King and it was obvious to even an amateur like him that she couldn't keep such a pace up forever. Fortunately she won't need to because as long as she could deliver a single blow that can keep Toothy's brain on the fritz for two seconds, he'd take care of the rest.

It was thirty seconds later that his opportunity was provided and he didn't waste a moment cutting loose. Pushing his power to as high as he dared, he unleashed a blast of black flame easily twice the size of anything he'd executed since the whole mess with Kung Lung began.

However that was only half of his winning hand.

By blasting the flames through the golden circle he'd formed and surrounded with powerful kanji, his attack would be magnified both in size as well as potency. Given that he'd managed to get up to fourteen kanji up before letting the blast fly, the torrent of flame heading towards Shadow King was one impressive amount of black fire. He hoped Betsy had enough warning to get clear because he didn't think he'd be able to live with himself if he wound up frying her along with Smiley. She wasn't a friend, per se, what with her spending the majority of her time with Warren 'Wings' Worthington in NYC, but she was close enough to be considered a comrade in his mind.

He felt it when his blast slammed into the Shadow King and was somewhat surprised to sense the asshole was actually managing to resist the destructive force besieging his astral form. An impressive feat, considering that in the real world he had yet to encounter anything that could even put up a token resistance to Kung Lung's black flames. Add to that the fact that the destructive force behind the flames had been amplified a total of fourteen times and it spoke greatly of the power Mr. Toothache possessed. Sadly, as is with most people given insufficient time to prepare, even the colossal psionic villain could not resist the effects of the flames forever. Bit by bit the Shadow King's astral form began to fall away from his body before disintegrating into nothingness. It was like watching a person caught in the inferno of a nuclear blast being burned to ashes in super slow motion… or watching a sand castle being dissolved by the tide. Throughout it all the monster struggled against his destruction, his cries a mixture of pain as well as fury, until only half his head remained to fade away into nothingness.

"Do not think you've beaten me, boy! So long as there's a single drop of evil in the human heart, I will survive!" Shadow King roared as his mouth turned into vanishing ashes, "I **am ETERNAL**!"

Sending forth one final surge of black flame, Xander decided to throw a few parting words at the megalomaniac.

"Blah, blah, blah! BBBOOOORRRINNNGGG!!" He said in his most annoying and obnoxious tone of voice, "Come back when you've got some better material!"

With that final comment, the last shred of the astral form calling itself the Shadow King went poof like a staked vamp, leaving nothing but the X-Men and himself behind. Closing down the golden circle before him, he could feel in the depths of his soul that he'd just taken a nasty step in a bad direction. He'd tapped into the power of Kung Lung like never before and even assuming that his armor was still on him in the real world, there was going to be a serious power bill to deal with when they went there.

Looking up, he watched as a slightly singed Pyslocke floated to the ground in her sexy-looking ink black astral form.

"Well looks like that's game, set and match, Psylocke." He said in his usual laid back victory tone of voice, "And what a smokin' victory it was!"

"Yeah, well, you do know that smoking kills, right?" She asked obviously not happy about how close she came to losing an arm or a leg in the blast.

Deciding to press his luck just a little further he tossed one more bit of humor out, "Will we get brain cancer, then?"

The three slaps he got from Betsy, Cecilia and Marrow respectively answered that question.

"Fine, let's get out of here and back to the real world." He said as he rubbed his mental cheek a bit before muttering, "If I didn't consider them friends, I'd being suing them for psychic abuse right now."

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_**The Real World, Storm's Village, Fifteen Minutes Later**_

"Well that's the last of them, Doc. Anything else you need done?" Xander asked as he gently set the last ailing villager onto a makeshift bed in the hut that had been transformed into a triage facility.

"Find a bucket or something and fill it with water." Cecilia replied as she continued to take stock of the mess she'd have to clean up, "The biggest problems with these people are dehydration and malnutrition. I don't pretend to understand all that mental mumbo jumbo, but somehow that bribon managed to keep these people alive without food or water for weeks. Getting them ample amounts of both is our top priority."

"Got it, doc." He said as he headed for the entrance/exit of the hut, "Back in a bit."

Exiting the structure, he checked his right arm once more under the bright sunlit sky and tried to visually reassure himself that he'd administered the serum of Dr. Strange in time. The sight that had greeted him once Betsy carried them all back to the physical world had been as a dagger of fear into his heart. More so then ever before had the price for tapping into Kung Lung's power shown itself on his form. Large patches of scales rather than skin, teeth rendered pointy as any predator's, nails gone oil black as well as sharp and pointed ears that were more acute then he ever recalled them being. Not unlike a junkie looking to feed a habit, he took out a vial of the serum as well as a needle and, after extracting the required dosage, injected it into his body post haste. He knew he had probably disturbed his friends quite a bit with the show of pain that followed the injection but after five minutes of continuous reassurances that he was fine, they all let him be. From there the task of tending to the villagers began as Dr. Reyes began to dish out orders to everyone and, since she was the resident medical expert, no one questioned her commands. That pretty much brought him to where he was now and, with a shake of his head to get rid of the feeling that the one injection of the potion had not done enough, he began his search for a suitable water receptacle.

Passing through the village, he had to wonder what the next adventure with the X-Men would be like. So far he'd traveled to outer space to help keep the Shi'ar Imperium from becoming food for the Phalanx Dominion, fought a dino-man that had interrupted his babe-watching and now had faced off against the King Kong of the telepath scene. While no stranger to fighting the good fight, the battles he'd been in lately were more like Sunnydale's year-end apocalypses, one after another. If this was the Scooby equivalent of 'another day at the office' for the X-Men, then he shuddered to think what the once a year doomsday events are like for them. Mentally he made a note to talk to Logan or one of the other X-Men to help him find alternative means of helping out the team since overusing Kung Lung's power was rising higher on his 'do **NOT** do' list.

_I just __**know**__ I'm gonna get another lecture from Strange when we get back to the U.S of A!_ He thought with a grimace at how that would likely go down, _An' if I don't go to see him, you just know he's going to—ooommpphhh!_

His thought processes pretty much got derailed at that point as a set of arms reached out from one of the darkened alleyways of the village and pulled him in quicker than Buffy's hands at a shoe sale. He only got a glimpse of red hair and green cloth before a set of salty lips were pressed hard against his own as well as a **perfectly** proportioned body against his torso. Whether it was the fact that he'd been caught completely off guard that did it or simply the fact that whoever was kissing him was a natural he didn't know. All he did know, though, was that the little head below his waist was in control at the moment so not only did he not put up even a token resistance, but he even put his hands on the lady's waist. It wasn't until the woman broke the kiss on her own that her identity was revealed to be Marrow and the shock snapped his mind free from Junior's grasp.

"Marrow? Huh…wha…why…HUH?" Was all he could get out with his mind still riding a bit of a buzz from the kiss and coping with the shock of finding out who it was.

"Just wanted to thank you for keeping that basket case from sinking his fingers too deep into my head," she replied sounding oddly…nice…rather than her usual abrasive self. "Not that I couldn't have beat him myself, of course! It just meant less hassle for me."

Seeing as how this was probably as close to a polite thank you he was going to get from the girl, he decided not to inquire as to her change in personality.

"No problem. What're friends for, right?" He asked, making it clear in how he spoke that he neither expected anything further from her nor wanted anything more.

"Right…friends…'kay." Marrow said with an unidentifiable emotion in her voice, "Well I'll let you get back to whatever it was you were doing for the healer. See ya."

With that the young Morlock woman strode out of the alleyway to go who knew where, thus allowing him to relax a bit now that his encounter with the volatile vixen was over with.

"Oh, and by the way? I think scales and sharp teeth look good on you." Marrow said over her shoulder before she walked away with a definitely significant sway to her hips.

Looking at her in shock before looking back down to his exposed arm and then raising his eyes back to her only one question was present in his mind.

_Should I take another dosage just to be on the safe side?_


	18. Shopping Mall of Horrors

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the copyrighted materials shown herein

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the copyrighted materials shown herein. They are the sole property of their respective creators and associated companies. I make no profit from writing these chapters. I write them only for my own personal enjoyment as well as the enjoyment of those who choose to read them.

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_**One Week Later, X-Mansion, Xander's Room**_

_O-kay! Either I'm having black outs and getting rid of some of my clothes without knowing it or we've got some Gnomes that have the same taste in clothes as I do._ Xander thought as he inspected both his closet as well as his dresser, _Including my choice of boxers and socks apparently._

The more he thought of it, though, the more he realized that this had not been an all-at-once vanishing act but rather something that had happened bit by bit over time. There was a time yesterday morning when he'd been unable to find the shirt he'd wanted to wear or some socks that would go with the pants he'd picked out. The day before that he'd found his Snoopy boxers missing as well as a sweater he'd purchased because it reminded him of the good times back in Sunnydale. The list went on and on until he finally clued into the fact that he was down to, at best, a third of what he'd had a month ago in terms of clothes. He tried to figure out a rational possibility as to how this might have happened but nothing seemed to quite fit. He first thought that maybe there was some kind of mansion laundry plan or something where everyone took turns doing the laundry for all the residents. That, however, got rejected due to the fact that none of the mansion residents struck him as the type to willingly adhere to the rotation schedule or handle the dirty clothes of others. Another possibility was that one of the other men had been low on clothes of their own and thought that ol' Xander wouldn't mind them 'borrowing' an article here or there. However, considering how built some of them were, only a few would be able to fit into some of his things. 

_I think I'd remember seeing Remy walking around wearing one of my Snoopy shirts._ He thought as that possibility bought the big one, _I'd better ask someone if they know anything about it._

Putting on what he could and hoping it didn't clash too much, he went out in search of someone who might be able to explain the sudden shortage of clothes in his room. It took five minutes but he eventually bumped into Storm and Doc Reyes, who looked like they had just gotten out of bed as well, given how there was still some sleep dust in the corners of their eyes. Cecilia was finishing off a piece of toast while Ororo seemed to be enjoying a steaming cup of tea and both turned to look at him when he entered the kitchen. Deciding that the white haired African beauty would be the best person to ask, he turned to her completely.

"Hey Storm? Do you know if anyone's been in my room lately?" 

"Not that I know of, Alexander. Why do you ask?"

"I seem to be missing quite a few shirts, socks and stuff from my dresser and closet. I think it's been going on for awhile but I've just never really noticed it up until now." He replied, feeling a bit embarrassed since it took a pretty oblivious person to not notice when articles of clothing were missing, "I know I didn't lose them myself so I was hoping one of you X-Men might know. You guys ever have a problem losing things at random?"

"Not that I recall. Besides the usual, I mean." Ororo replied as she put her empty tea cup down, "Have you asked any of the others?"

"Nah! Don't think I will, either." He replied with a frown at the fact that the trail had gone cold as far as his lost clothes was concerned, "My room is pretty far from everyone else's, so if you haven't noticed anyone hanging around my room then nobody's been there."

"Then it looks like you'll need to do some shopping to replace everything." Reyes stated before wiping her fingers clean with a napkin, "I was thinking of heading into the city myself so I'll join ya."

"In light of Logan smoking his foul cigars in my loft, I had intended to add a few new ferns to my room in an effort to remove the smell." Storm said before taking both her tea cup and saucer to the sink, "However it would appear that it will take a more…unconventional approach to clear the air. So I believe that I shall accompany you two into the city as well."

"Sounds like a roadtrip, so I'm in." Betsy said as she walked into the kitchen dressed in sweat pants and a tank top.

Now while most people would look at this situation as a good thing, in a car with three beautiful women, he saw some potential for trouble. After all, it was true that for the most part his connections with these ladies ranged from simple roommates to friends, he remembered all too well what happened the last time he went shopping with more than one woman. He wound up with almost all his severance package from the Daily Grind gone as well as a few landmine situations when they asked him if he thought Cal' would like this or that. True, the situation was different in that they were just carpooling together to conserve gas, but he knew that at least two of the three women had personalities that could lead to a repeat of that situation. For a moment he considered backing out while he still could but that idea died a flame-ridden death since it would only lead to dangerous questions from the ladies. Instead he decided he'd just make sure he slipped away from them as soon as they got to the mall and try to avoid them until the agreed upon leaving time. 

"Alright then. Give me an hour to get ready and we'll be off." 

Reese's pieces cereal.

There is nothing better.

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_**Inside of the Rental Car, The Highway Leading to NYC, Hour and a Half Later**_

_Well this is a fine way to start a trip!_ He thought as once again Betsy readjusted her position next to him to better make use of their combined body heat, _NOT!_

It had happened about ten minutes ago and while he wasn't too badly affected by the coldness that was making itself comfortable inside the car, the situation was making him uncomfortable via Betsy's proposed solution to the dilemma. That, of course, being to sit as close to each other as they could in the back seat and rely on each others natural body heat in order to stay warm. Given that she was a beautiful, voluptuous woman and he was a teenage guy with issues when it came to members of the opposite sex, including a horrible dating history as well as the usual hormonal difficulties, and you had an awkward situation going on. He had inquired with Storm if there was anything she could do with her weather manipulating powers to warm things up a bit but, according to her, it would be too large scale to be missed by uninformed civilians. Her little weather manipulation at the lake had been on mansion property so a certain degree of privacy was afforded to them, but to have a spotlight of spring or summer warmth following them the entire way to the mall would have been a little too noticeable. So he was pretty much stuck with the foxy Elisabeth Braddock leaning into him and, unless he was **really** paranoid, was adjusting her position every two minutes **on purpose**.

_Doesn't take a psychologist to figure out why._ He thought with some annoyance at the woman's efforts to mess with his head, _I'd better find something to disract myself with and __**fast!**_

"So, Doc, what's the latest word on the people back in Storm's village?" he asked figuring that bringing up a more serious topic that would dampen Psylocke's playful mood, "They doing better?"

"Yeah. Some of the older ones are still feeling the effects of what the Shadow King did to them but in another week, everyone should be back to normal." Cecilia replied from her position in the front passenger-side seat, "One of the young girls even asked if the 'golden eyed boy' would come back to visit her some day. Looks like you got an admirer, Xander."

_The Fates hate me!_ He thought before saying "If the one you're talking about was the one with the Dukes of Hazard T-shirt, all I did was play a bit with her and her brother to keep them from worrying about their mother. She was the one you spent an hour patching up, remember?"

"Did a good job, too, from what I saw." Reyes said before looking over her shoulder, "Definitely father material."

"Why Cecilia! Thinking about staking a claim on him already?" Betsy asked, sounding eighty percent humorous and twenty percent serious.

This, of course, caused the Puerto Rican doctor to look him over like Cordettes used to examine new male transfer students. Needless to say it felt to him like a shark was circling him in bloody waters.

"Mmmmm, maybe if he was five years older, but not now though." Cecilia replied with a surprising amount of honesty in her voice.

Given that Cecilia was feasibly ten years older than him, the fact that she only said 'five years' did little to calm down his nerves.

Naturally Betsy's playful nature **compelled** her to build on his anxiety.

"Only five years, Doctor?" 

"Well, I figure that by twenty-three or twenty-four he'd be in his physical prime and that could be quite **useful**." Cecilia replied in a tone that implied that she knew what Psylocke was doing and had decided to join in. 

"True, and stamina is always a good quality to look for in a man." Elisabeth said while playfully going up and down his chest with her hand.

_Okay I __**am NOT**__ liking where this conversation has drifted to!_ He thought looking back and forth between the Asian Brit and the Puerto Rican woman.

"I suppose so. I guess that's why you settled on Mr. 'Wings' Worthington, eh, Betsy?" He asked as he gently removed her hand from its stroking holding pattern on his chest.

"Worthington? Who's he?" Betsy asked feigning ignorance about her boyfriend while resuming her previous stroking, this time on the back of his hand rather than his chest.

"Your boyfriend? Your lover?" He replied before extricating her hand from hers without giving the impression that he was repulsed by her. 

"Well, Warren and I are on the outs of our relationship at the moment." Betsy replied as she reigned in her playfulness a bit, "With all that's happened lately, he's gotten a bit too serious and brooding for my tastes. We had an argument over it and decided we needed some time apart so I decided to move back into the mansion for the time being."

However it was that train of thought reached the station that mischief and fun got on board making their presence known through a twinkle in her eye.

"I'm sure no girlfriend of yours would have to worry about you brooding too much. Right, Xander?" Elisabeth asked before repositioning herself a bit more to face him.

"Definite no to the brooding. Brooding reminds me too much of a certain Deadboy from back in Sunnydale with the leather pants and overflowing amounts of gel." He replied, unconsciously channeling Willow a bit with the way he was speaking, "I prefer actually doing something when I have a problem rather than sitting in a chair with a whiskey bottle in hand."

"A man of action, eh?" Betsy asked rhetorically as the twinkle brightened in her eye, "I like that in a man."

This, of course, stopped Xander in his tracks as he tried to think of a way to react to that but thankfully Storm came to his rescue.

"Stop teasing the young man, Elisabeth." Ororo said even though the rear view mirror hinted at a grin on her face as she drove, "He is clearly unsettled so I suggest you change the topic of discussion."

For a moment Psylocke frowned at her fun being cut short but that was only until a small grin appeared on her Asian face implying she had found another topic that would be equally amusing to her.

"I suppose you're right. He's probably not used to the attention of an older woman." Betsy said before turning from Storm to look at him, "But I'm sure there were quite a few ladies back home that were sorry to see him leave. Isn't that right, Xander?"

"A few, but they were more like sisters to me than girlfriends." He replied, not feeling up to going into too much detail about his friends back on the Hellmouth.

"Didn't you have some sweetheart back home that is probably missing you back home?" Elisabeth asked with a little more genuine interest than playfulness in her voice.

Thinking about Cordy, he knew that she still held a piece of his heart but thanks to The Fluke, he knew that any chance of the two of them getting back together was slim. Despite the circumstances, despite the fact that he and Willow had had every reason to think that they were going to die at Spike's hands, seeing him kiss Willow had torn the fabric of his relationship with Cordy to shreds. They were still friends or, at least, he still thought of her as a friend but any hope he'd had at pursuing a relationship that went beyond that was pretty much impossible now. 

"I used to but a…bad move on my end pretty much messed that relationship up." He replied, deciding to only reply in broad strokes rather than in detail, "We're still friends but that's pretty much it."

This once again put a damper on the conversation but then a look of genuine kindness filled Pyslocke's eyes and she apparently had come to a decision about something.

"Well I wouldn't worry too much about things like that." She said before once again leaning into his shoulder, "You can start fresh today and you can always ask around the mansion if you ever need some womanly advice. My door's always open if you need some **help,** Xander."

For a moment he considered the possible double meanings but then decided that while Sunnydale paranoia might be warranted when dealing with the supernatural, he shouldn't be so suspicious of every word that came out of Betsy's mouth. After all, he barely knew her so he didn't have enough info to be able to accurately tell when the woman was being serious and when she was just pulling his leg. So he decided that with this statement he'd take it at face value rather than look for any kind of hidden meaning. 

"Thanks Betsy." He said with genuine gratitude at this offer of friendship.

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_**Muir Island, Scotland**_

Walking through the complex with the others, Rogue could see the first signs of what she knew was coming. Although Kurt and Kitty had only said that the 'topic' was up for discussion she could tell that it would only be a matter of weeks, if not days, before Excaliber was officially disbanded. With some team members gone and others choosing to step back from the life of a costumed adventurer, the only way to keep the team going would be a massive recruitment drive. Neither of their friends looked like they were up to something like that and, in the end, it was their choice whether or not to keep the team of superheroes going. 

_Maybe if Xander doesn't want to become an X-Man he might want to start up Excaliber himself._ She thought as her thoughts began to involve the southern Californian teenager more and more, _He certainly has the dragon theme going for him and if Deathbird's dropped hints are anything to go by, he's not a bad leader either._

Thinking back to the mess in Antarctica, she couldn't help but admire how the golden eyed teenager had handled himself against Magneto's forces as well as unmasking the true Master of Magnetism for all to see. For a moment she became lost in the memories of things she had personally seen Xander do and things she had heard he'd done when she hadn't been around. In the end it was only a firm hand on her shoulder that kept her from walking face first into a door.

"You okay, chere?" Remy asked with some concerned once she realized that they were now outside the drawing room on the Braddock estate where they'd be meeting Kitty, Kurt and Peter to discuss how Excaliber's tech would be divided up.

"Yeah, just thinking 'bout how crazy things have been lately." She replied as she refocused her mind from her memories to the here and now where it belonged, "Goin' ta Shi'ar space, fightin' the Phalanx an' that whole mess in Antarctica. Makes mah head spin just thinkin' 'bout it, Sugah."

"De life of an' X-Men, eh, chere? It be many t'ings but it's never boring." Gambit said with an amused smile apparently buying her reasons for her near collision with the door.

"No doubt about it!" Rogue said with an amused smile of her own at how bizarre the lives of those associated with the X-Men tended to be.

Entering the drawing room, she saw that both Kitty and Kurt were already present chatting away about a movie they'd seen on TV the previous night. Judging by how Nightcrawler was making vague sword thrust-like gestures, it must have been a pirate movie of some kind. Peter, aka Colossus, was sitting in another chair with a sketch pad in hand and some colored pencils lying next to him on a table. What he was drawing she couldn't tell and, once the trio noticed the new arrivals, the Russian put it away, making sure she wouldn't be able to sneak a peek. 

Moving along there was a brief greeting between them all, except for Deathbird, who just stood off to the side trying to look aloof, before it was time to get down to semi-formal business. It had been something of a surprise that the Shi'ar woman had chosen to accompany them on their trip to Muir Island, considering it was just an equipment run. According to Deathbird, she had come because she wanted to make sure that a subspace transceiver was among those items included in the delivery so that she could contact the Empire. While it was true, as far as the X-Men had been able to tell, that the stargate linking the Shi'ar Imperium was still in shambles, long distance communication was still possible. It was difficult with all the spacial radiation and various anomalies between the two points but it could be done. No doubt Cal', as Xander frequently called the winged woman, wanted to try and light a fire under the asses of the people repairing the gate so she could get back to ruling her little corner of the Shi'ar Empire as soon as possible. While the sometimes white eyed woman was no longer complaining quite as much about having to endure the **primitive** conditions of Earth, there was no doubt the warrior would be happier once she was back amongst more familiar surroundings. Considering all the trouble that Deathbird had caused for the X-Men over the years, Rogue could honestly say that the sooner the Aerie woman was gone the better. 

For the next hour a mix of business talk and friendly chatter filled the room until pretty much all the equipment used by Excaliber had been successfully divided up amongst the other X-teams, including the X-Men. While she herself had only given a little input here and there, she had made some good points that regretfully had come from her time with the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants and her foster mother Mystique. While most of her work with them had been attacking targets and destroying threats to mutantkind, there had been a few times when they'd had to bargain with arms dealers and corrupt officials. This had left her with a loose understanding of negotiation and business bargaining that allowed her to propose several ways that the three members of Excaliber could deal with the bits of technology that were either of no use or out of date. Most would go to reputable companies for a handy sum of money since most of unclaimed tech was quite a bit ahead of anything on the open market available to the public. Others would go to other superhero groups that, while not an X-team, still had strong relationships with the various mutant teams. All in all the X-Mansion would be restocked with most of the essential equipment they needed and the members of Excaliber would have some money to divide up among them.

"So how are things back at the mansion?" Kitty asked, sounding somewhat glad that the business part of their semi-formal meeting was finally over.

"It isn't exactly easy, given how Bastion stripped everything away." Bishop replied, only partially managing to lose the police officer tone of voice, "We've got four new residents but they haven't been made official X-men yet."

"Really? Who?" Kurt asked with some interest in his voice.

"The first is Doctor Cecilia Reyes, a former employee of Our Mother of Mercy hospital in New York City. She was once approached by the Professor with an offer of a place at the mansion as well as with the X-Men. She turned down the invitation, stating that she didn't want to get involved with the chaos that the team usually gets mixed up in." Bishop replied with his officer tone back in full force as he briefed the three in front of him on the new arrivals, "However, due to the events of Operation: Zero Tolerance, she has been publically ousted to her co-workers as a mutant and has since moved into the mansion though she is still determined to regain her former life."

_Better not let Cecilia here you talkin' like that, Sugah._ Rogue thought as she recalled how determined the Puerto Rican woman was to get her life back.

"What powers does she have?" Peter asked, joining the discussion on the new mansion residents.

"Beast has termed it a psioplasmic bio-field but its pretty much a personal force field that surrounds her body at all times but only becomes visible when she's threatened." Bishop replied promptly, giving an accurate summary of the doctor's mutant ability, "It's mostly defensive in nature but can be used offensively under certain circumstances.

"Next is the Morlock Marrow who joined with Bobby and Dr. Reyes in New York City during an altercation with a group of Prime Sentinals at a police prescient. You all know her from the time she led the terrorist group known as Gene Nation but apparently Callisto has convinced her charge to turn over a new leaf." The X.S.E officer said with some doubt in his voice as to the bone girl's ability to change, "She's pretty much a brawler for the most part but does possess some skill using her uncontrollable bone growths as weapons."

_No doubt about that, hon'._ She thought, remembering the times during their fight with the Ru'tai when the Morlock had torn her enemy to shreds. 

"Maggot is the third new arrival coming straight from Southern Africa. According to what I've heard from Logan recently, the young man was on a mission to find Magneto in an effort to gain some relief from his mutant ability." Lucas Bishop said as his eyes took on a slightly distracted look, "This ability comes in the form two metallic slugs which act as the boy's digestive system. They can consume virtually anything and transform the matter into the energy that Maggot needs to live. This energy also gives him some increased strength and stamina to a certain degree."

She could certainly back up the claim that Maggot's slugs could eat just about anything, given how one of them had devoured a nano-machine bomb that Bastion had implanted inside of Scott's chest. The little thing had eaten it in one gulp and managed to survive the explosion that followed with no perceivable side effects that anyone present had been able to detect. 

"The last is Alexander LaVelle Harris who was accidently included with the rest of us when Gladiator transported us to a Shi'ar cruiser near Earth. Despite that, though, the young man was helpful in dealing with the Phalanx and Magneto upon our return to Earth." Bishop explained before grinning somewhat, although one would have to know him to see it, "The kid's got potential. If he'd been around in my time, he'd have been recruited into the X.S.E in a heartbeat."

"Vhat sort of mutant powers das he have?" Kurt asked with some curiosity, given how rare it was for the man from the future to give out praise.

"That's just it, he's not a mutant. According to him his powers are more magical in nature but, from what I've seen so far, they are impressive." Bishop replied after the small grin that had been on his face disappeared, "Aside from increased physical abilities, he also seems to have a healing factor on par with Wolverine's as well as the ability to breath a black fire from his mouth. I didn't have time to examine the remains of the machines that the black fire engulfed in detail but most were reduced to ashes in seconds. However he stated that using these powers comes with a cost but he has not expanded on what those costs might be."

"He is not as foolish as some, human. Unlike some of your ilk, he has the sense to keep certain vital facts to himself even amongst allies." Deathbird stated as though she considered Xander to be better than the rest of the X-Men in some respects, "Only a fool trusts anyone completely."

"Perhaps." Was all Bishop would say to that statement.

"Well I t'ink it time for some lunch. You comin', chere?" Gambit asked, looking like he'd used up whatever patience he had sitting through the reassignment of equipment.

"Maybe later, Sugah. Me an' Kitty got some girl talk to do." Rogue replied, knowing that the younger mutant girl would probably want some more personal info on the new residents of the X-Mansion.

"'nuff said, chere." Gambit said, realizing that the time for him to leave had definitely arrived.

With that both Bishop and Gambit left along with Peter and Kurt, leaving only the three women in the room to do their 'girl talk' thing. Naturally, as they couldn't have males eavesdropping, they waited five minutes before Kitty broke the silence with an unexpected question.

"So are any of the new guys cute?" Katherine 'Kitty' Pryde asked with a sincerely interested tone of voice.

_Ah guess she got over Pete Wisdom quicker than ah thought._ She thought to herself with an amused shake of her head.

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_**The Benton Shopping Mall, NYC, An Hour Later**_

"Okay! So what would be a good time to meet back here?" Xander asked, hoping that he'd be able to do his shopping in peace.

"Well I got the short straw when it came to cooking dinner, so I can't past four in the afternoon." Betsy said showing that she wouldn't mind go past that to avoid cooking, "So I'd say we set our watches for two or so. That'd give us time to get back and me time enough to get cooking."

"Sounds like a plan so let's synchronize our watches people." He said sounding like they were about to go on a mission.

"Geek!" Betsy said with a playful slap to the back of his head, "Just for that I'm going to tag along and make sure you upgrade your wardrobe rather than just replace the missing clothes with more of the same."

"I appreciate the thought, Betsy, but I've been dressing myself since I was five and—" was as far as he got in terms of trying to dissuade her from coming with him.

"—And look where that's gotten you. You said it yourself in the car that you only had one real girlfriend and that she dumped you." Betsy said, speaking firmly so as not to give him an opening to butt in, "Judging from how you acted around Deathbird, I'd say you have experience handling women above your class so I guess this girlfriend was fairly wealthy and decided to cut things off because her friends in the upper class pressured her to?"

"Well…kinda?" He replied, not wanting to let out that the real last straw had been The Fluke with Willow in the burnt out remains of Spike's warehouse.

"Well, a major part of that was probably because of the way you dressed. While your girlfriend needed to like the person you were underneath, her sheep probably only cared about how you looked." Betsy continued, not waiting for him to elaborate any further, "I know you probably had your reasons for dressing economically in the past but now you have adequate employment, a home that's more or less rent free and friends who wouldn't mind pitching in to cover the cost of some new clothes. SO, why not let us help you upgrade your closet to fit the new you?"

"Um…because I have no desire to be used as a Ken doll?" He responded, not liking the interested look in her eyes.

"I don't blame you. Truth be told, I was more of a G.I Joe girl myself when I was a child." Elisabeth Braddock said, throwing her arm around his shoulders.

Whether that was to comfort him or keep him from getting away easily was anyone's guess.

"Don't knock Barbie and Ken, Betsy. Used 'em as visual aides when I looked through my first med text when I was eight," Reyes said, coming up on his other side, bookending him in between her and Psylocke. "Kept usin' them until I hit fifteen 'cause then I had more lifelike things to do comparisons with."

_T.M.I! Definitely!_ He thought as he tried to figure out some way of avoiding the train wreck he saw heading his way.

"So I take it by how you've joined this conversation that you want to help me reinvent one Xander Harris?" Betsy asked, no doubt sensing a potential ally in close proximity.

"Anything to make sure he doesn't buy any more of those God awful Hawaiian print shirts!" Cecilia said, reaching over with her left hand to seal the deal with Betsy.

"Welcome to the mission, Doc!" Elisabeth said, shaking hands with her co-conspirator.

_Oh GREAT! Now there's __**TWO**__ of them planning to use me for a game of dress up! _He thought with a barely withheld groan, _My only hope is that Storm will see what's about to happen and come to my rescue. She's one of the most responsible people in the mansion! No way is she going to throw me to the wolves!_

Looking to the weather witch, he could tell from the expression on her face that something was brewing in that head of hers but whether it was about helping him or his 'fashion helpers', he didn't know. Personally he prayed that it was the former rather than the latter because he wasn't sure he could hold out against all three of them. Fortunately, though, after reviewing the past few days, he was fairly certain that Mr. Murphy had had his fill of tormenting poor old Xander, so he should be safe today.

"A change of style can prove beneficial, Xander." Storm said with what was probably meant to be an encouraging smile, "After all, it is a proven fact in nature that that which does not adapt to suit its new environment is doomed to perish. So, while I agree with Elisabeth's plan of action, I believe I shall accompany you three just to make sure she does not get carried away with the idea."

_Guess __**Mr. Murphy**__ decided to come __**back**__ for __**seconds**_ He thought snarkily as the three women herded him towards the clothing section of the mall.

It was like playing Russian Roulette for the first few minutes with him eyeing everything clothing store that they approached, only to breath a sigh of relief as they continued to walk right on by. Some of the stores they walked past were definitely ones he would have lost it had they entered (a leather specialty store, for one) while others were somewhat safer in terms of products but also way out of his price range. Eventually they came to a store that, much to his surprise, had clothes in the window displays that he could actually see himself wearing. There was a women's section as well so the chance that the shopping gene would kick in for Storm, Betsy and Cecilia could very well provide him with a chance to escape. Entering the store, they immediately steered him in the direction of the men's section and it was then he began to worry as Betsy let go of him temporarily only to return with some pants that looked **a bit** too small for him. Cecilia soon copied her by leaving for a minute but returned soon afterwards with a shirt that looked like silk but wasn't quite when he took a closer look at it. Whatever it was made of, it didn't make him feel any better than the pants did! Knowing what articles of clothing there were remaining until one had a complete outfit, he figured it was best to make for the dressing room and get the whole thing over with.

"I'll go try these on! Be right back!" He said, trying to sound like he was looking forward to trying them on rather than attempting to escape his captors.

Before they could say a word, he was in the men's changing room with the door closed and locked to make sure they didn't try anything else. He wasn't sure what they could try but his damnedable gutter part of his brain didn't have any trouble imagining a few steamy possibilities. Possibilities that he ruthlessly shoved into a trunk, wrapped in chains and threw into a metaphorical black hole in his head to completely destroy them. With a telepath around, he couldn't afford to think…improper things about any of them or he'd get a trio of slaps at the very least and a week long subliminal message in his brain. 

_Women are __**SO**__ of the evil!_ He thought as he began to change into the clothes he'd been provided with.

'But you love us so much…' came an all too familiar voice in his head.

Damn Brit!

&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&

_**An Hour and Half Later, Benton Shopping Mall, Betsy's P.O.V**_

_I can't believe I'm thinking this but getting into choppy waters with Warren might actually have been a good thing._ Psylocke thought as she trailed behind Ororo, Cecilia and Xander, _If we'd stayed together, I'd probably be out with him right now instead of enjoying the show right here!_

For the past hour and half, not that any of them would admit it, Xander had indeed been their Ken doll and she had to say that he made that plastic representation of an ideal man look positively average by comparison. While true that she was no stranger to chiseled male bodies, given the condition that most of the men on the team were required to be in for missions, but there was something about Xander's that appeared… different to her. It was no one quality that she could pick out of the entire tapestry of his form, so it was impossible to truly put into precise words. Whatever it was it had definitely influenced the kind of clothes she picked out for him, clothes that enhanced his good looks, showcased his toned body and yet allowed him to retain his aura of normalness that he seemed to prefer if his clothing preferences were any indication were chosen. Nevertheless, he complained about the tightness of some of the pants, which she had responded by saying that they'd loosen up a bit the more he wore them. The shirts he said were too thin for the weather they were having at the moment but she said that these clothes would be worn indoors anyways. The formal wear they'd picked out for him, for undercover missions Storm had proposed, were probably the only thing Xander didn't put up much of a fuss over. They got him no less than four sets of formal wear in four different styles from four different parts of the world that the X-Men traveled to most frequently.

_A definite stroke of good luck that that shop had such a wide selection to choose from._ She thought as she recalled the men's formal wear store they had been in ten minutes ago.

It was as they were heading to their last destination, something she'd managed to convince the others of while Xander was changing, that she spotted a familiar face. A face not just familiar to her, but the entire world as well both with powers as well as those without. Walking towards them with some young model on his arm was none other than the heartbreaker of the Fantastic Four Johnny Storm, looking like he was charming up his date something fierce. Struck with a sudden idea to make the trip to the mall even more enjoyable, she proceeded to the head of the group and began to wave her arm to catch Storm's attention. While the X-Men and the Fantastic Four weren't exactly close friends, they interacted enough that the definition of good friends fit quite nicely. Add to that the fact that she had tended quite a few parties where the Human Torch had been present and it was not entirely out of line for her to try to wave him over to them. 

"Hey Match Stick!" She yelled in addition to her waving in order to get the young blonde man's attention.

There was only a minute of confusion before the hotheaded member of the world's greatest superhero team found out who was yelling at him and began to walk over. One by one she watched as the Human Torch took in her, Storm and Doc Reyes before finally noticing Xander and for a moment let his puzzlement show before resuming his poise as a charmer.

"Hey Betsy! Fancy meeting you here." Johnny said coming to a stop a safe distance from the quartet in front of him.

"I could say the same Johnny. Who's your girlfriend?" she asked deciding to set up the question she knew the member of the Fantastic Four would ask in return.

Now that the Brit ninja had a chance to look more carefully, she could see that the woman hanging on the Torch's arm wasn't entirely human. The pointed ears were the first clue but when added to the slightly reflective nature of her skin and the not-quite-normal eyes it was clear the lady was more than she seemed.

"This is Namorita, a relative of Namor's, we were just strolling through the mall looking for just the right dress for her to wear to the Triumvirate extravaganza tonight." Johnny replied looking at his lovely date as though she were a beauty beyond compare, "How about you?"

_Time to put my little game into motion!_ She thought before turning to Xander and throwing herself into his arms as though they were lovers.

Just as she had predicted, the young man's own gentle nature when it came to women he considered friends caused his arms to reflexively wrap around her in a hug. Now, though, she had to keep his stunned state in place so he couldn't ruin things too soon and spoil her fun.

"Oh we just thought that it was time for my new boytoy Xander here to try a new look. The old one was enough to get me interested but I thought it was time to see how truly **hot** he could be with a woman's touch to his wardrobe." She replied as she made minute motions in order to rub her chest against Xander's, making sure he couldn't think much less do anything coherent yet, "As you can see, my guess was right 'cause now he's a match for any teen hero out there! Don't you agree Ororo? Cecilia?"

_Play along you two! It'll be fun!_ She thought to the others at the speed of thought as she personally prayed that they wouldn't be pair of wet blankets.

It was only a second but it was enough to make her worry that her little drama would come to a premature end. Thankfully her partner in Xander's little makeover saved her by grabbing hold of Xander's left arm and pulled it tightly against her sweater-covered chest. She could feel the golden-eyed teen shudder a bit at this, but whether it came from pleasure or increased anxiety she wasn't sure. About the only thing she could determine was that his mind was currently a mess of emotions, thoughts and urges that were all battling for control of his actions. Fear, embarrassment, confusion and, much to her delight, quite a bit of lust was floating around his head at the moment. True, it had not gained enough dominance within him to make him get fresh with her or the others, but it was still **very** interesting. 

Perhaps it was something to **explore** later when they had some time alone in much greater detail. 

"Normally I'd stick to someone my own age but I gotta admit that ever since I gave him that check-up after his bit of fun saving his friend, he's piqued my interest." Cecilia said, doing a great job of matching actions to her words.

_Now if only Storm would let herself go a little and unveil the grand finale!_ She thought to herself with great amusement that she only just managed to keep from showing on her face.

With every beat of her heart she waited, only looking at Ororo out of the corner of her eye so as not to give away to the Human Torch that it was all a show. It was not until the last possible moment, a full second before the hothead hero would have figured it out, that the most restrained member of their group finally decided to join the party. Her moves were a little stiff and lacked a certain hiss of hotness to them, but when she mirrored Cecilia's position on Xander's other arm the Trio Scheme she'd thought up came to fruition. 

"Indeed. He has proven to have wisdom beyond his young years and knowledge that can be quite **useful** when used properly." Storm said with a small 'I know something you do not' smile on her face, "He has brought a certain quality to our lives that has made things quite **interesting**."

With that said, there was little left to do but watch and see how Johnny Storm would react to all this. Personally she figured that either he would cheer Xander on or be at a loss for words since there was little he could say in front of his girlfriend that wouldn't land him in trouble. After all, if he complimented Xander on having three older women interested in him, Namorita might take offense to the idea that it was alright for a man to be involved with more than one woman. However, on the other side of the issue, if Johnny tried to show his disapproval at this, the relative of Namor might sense a bit of hypocrisy in his words given the Human Torch's reputation as a ladies man. 

It'd be interesting to see which way he would go with this.

"Well it's nice to see that everything's going good at the X-Mansion." Matchstick said with a smile that looked a bit uncertain, "Well, let's get going Namorita. We still haven't picked out the right dress for you and can't afford to waste time talkin'. See ya, Betsy!"

_So going with the 'play dumb' tactic, huh?_ She thought with some respect for the skillful way the ladies man of the Fantastic Four had managed to evade a potential landmine in his relationship with Namorita.

Waiting until she was certain that the victim of her little scheme was out of sight, she then extricated herself from Xander's grasp and let out the laughter of amusement she'd been holding in the entire time. Cecilia was quick to join her and while Storm remained silent it was clear from the twinkles in her eye that she too was greatly amused by the little act that they'd put on. However when she looked up to see what interesting expression was on Xander's face, she was somewhat surprised to see that he was still stuck in the state of confusion she'd initially put him in. Deciding that it wouldn't do to let him stay that way for too long, and feeling a little more emboldened than usual, she decided to bring him out of it in the most enjoyable way she could thing of. Leaning in a bit, she placed her lips right by his left ear and said a single sentence in the most casual yet implicating voice she could manage.

"Are you just going to stand there like a strip pole for me or can we go get something to eat?"

"Wha…NO…let's go get something to eat! Good idea!" He said and, with as much dignity as he could muster, made a bee-line for the escalator that led to the food court.

Watching him go, she had a thought in her head that it was probably best the dragon-eyed mansion resident was not privy to.

_Pity. Something tells me he would have made a __**fine**__ stripper's pole._

&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&

_**The Food Court, Forty Minutes Later, Xander's P.O.V**_

_Uh-oh! Bety's got that twinkle in her eye again!_ Xander thought as he polished off the last of his French fries, _NOT __**good!**_

Storm had gone off to the washroom after something in the tofu burger she'd been eating suddenly decided to disagree with her and that left only him, Betsy and Doc Reyes at their table. He found that sort of odd, considering the standards that the food counters had to maintain in order to operate in the food court. He knew from his experience at the Daily Grind that Shirley made it her personal mission to make sure not a single pot or pan of food made it to the floor without her tasting it first. Still, he supposed it was impossible to ensure that **every** single ingredient or every part of every meal was one hundred percent fresh before serving it. Looking at the two remaining women before him, he picked up on what he thought were signs of a telepathic conversation going on between the two of them and that only heightened his worry. It was bad enough with Betsy, who, like Faith, felt shame about precious few things, plotted about something with that look in her eyes but to have a second added to the mix sent distinct shivers down his spine.

"Well I think there's one more store to visit before we head back to the mansion." Betsy said in a way that was completely casual to the untrained ear.

Fortunately listening to her from the moment they left the mansion this morning had left him with a slightly more acute ability to hear past the surface of her words. 

She was up to something!

"Which one?" Cecilia asked also sounding casual but with a bit of mischief mixed into it. 

"Why the one with all the vacation clothes in it, of course. Given how often we go from one end of the world to another, it's pretty much a must to have something for every climate." Betsy replied sounding like it was **so** obvious, "As far as I know, Xander here only has his one set of swimming trunks and that just won't do. To survive in the warmer climates, or anywhere for that matter, a person needs at LEAST three pairs of everything. So I'm going to take him over there to grab two or so more."

OH **NO!**

"No way! One swimsuit is just fine! I don't need anymore than that!" He almost exclaimed before realizing that it would be like throwing chum into shark infested waters.

"Xander! I'm sorry for the little bit of fun we had earlier with the Human Torch, but you have to stop seeing scheming in every little thing I suggest." Psylocke said with more than a little harshness at the beginning, "Besides, you should know by now that trouble can come for us at any time and in any place. It doesn't matter if we're in our own home or catching some sun on a beach. It's also a fact that our clothes take a serious pounding every now and again so having more than one of something is pretty normal for us."

Much as he hated to admit it, she had a point.

One of the things he'd noticed during his brief time amongst them was that any place could become a battleground and any clothes that weren't designed to repel bullets or absorb energy attacks tended to go straight to the scrap heap after the fight. It was one hazard just about everyone in the spandex set probably had to deal with both on the side of good as well as the side of evil. Logically Betsy had made a point but his inner Murphy was telling him that it was still a bad idea to let his guard down or agree to anything. He was certain that no good could come from conceding her point or going anywhere with her. 

Too bad she picked up on this on the fence train of thought.

"I know you think that this is just some scheme of mine to see you blush redder than a tomato, but I promise you nothing'll happen that wouldn't have happened if it'd just been me, Storm and the Doc here." Elisabeth said seriously and with no warning twinkles of mischief in her eyes to warn him of trouble, "Good enough?"

Her words seemed genuine and since she promised that she wouldn't do anything crazy, it should have been okay to go along with her this time. There was still a part of his Sunnydale paranoia that was yelling at him that he was being played, but he just didn't want to believe that Psylocke was lying to him just for the sake of some laughs. She'd had her fill earlier with the Human Torch, right? Plus she and the others had some laughs before that as well by sending him into the changing room repeatedly to try on clothes that he was certain existed both for their own enjoyment as well as his practical use. So she must have had her fill of fun at his expense, right? For a moment his mind almost continued its stalemate position but then his eyes met Elisabeth's and at that moment he realized that he should go with her. If he planned on staying with the X-Men long term, he needed to be able to trust his teammates implicitly both on and off the battlefield.

"Good enough." He said even though his inner Murphy was calling his intelligence into question, "So we gonna wait for Ororo?"

"Nah! We'll go ahead and the Doc here can tell her where to find us." Betsy said as she too his hand and pulled him to his feet, "Right, Cecilia?"

"Sure! You two go on ahead." Doc Reyes said with a shooing motion to get them on their way.

"See ya in a bit then!" he said before following Psylocke out of the food court.

With that he and the Asian Brit headed towards the vacation wear store that the purple-haired ninja had mentioned. It took a few minutes but when he saw the sign and the window displays he let out a breath he hadn't known he'd been holding. The place wasn't one of those sexy specialty shops or anything else that would make him feel like passing out due to lack of blood flow to his big head thanks to his small head. Entering into the aisle of clothes and shoes, he decided to begin perusing the selection for anything that might look good on him. For the most part everything was fine and he even managed to dissuade the Brit ninja from forcing any Speedos on him. Despite the fact that he'd put on some muscle since that day investigating the swim team back in Sunnydale, he still wasn't comfortable about showing so much skin. For him swimming trunks were the same thing as normal shorts, so he didn't feel odd walking around the edges of the lake without a shirt or shoes. However the spandex material of a Speedo left entirely too little to the imagination as far as he was concerned and definitely wouldn't do near as good a job concealing his…reaction at seeing so many lovely ladies.

In the end he got three pairs of swimming trunks, some normal shorts and some short-sleeved shirts that would blend well with clothes warn by people in the warmer climates. He had just finished paying for his clothes when the beautiful Ms. Braddock said she wanted to try something on and wanted his opinion on it. He had been a little wary of this until he looked at the outfit that was in her arms and recognized it as a cargo short and tank top combo. He'd seen one similar to it in the display window and thankfully it wasn't too revealing, so if Psylocke was planning to shock him with it she was going about it wrong. So sitting down in a chair that seemed to be positioned near the dressing room entrance specifically for that reason and waited for her to come out. Imagining her in his head wearing the outfit the mannaquin was in the window display, he had to admit that she'd look good in it. Hell! She could probably wear a garbage bag and still make it look hotter than anything on the fashion runway today! That was the one thing he could confidently say about every woman on the X-Men team: they were bonafide hotties in every sense of the word. 

Hearing the sounds of the dressing room curtain being pulled aside from where he figured Betsy had been, he decided to give his undivided attention to critiquing her appearance in the shorts and tank outfit. However, when she stepped around the corner and into his field of vision, he lost all higher brain functions and could hear his inner Murphy repeating 'I told you so' over and over again. What she was wearing was **most DEFINITELY not** what she'd gone in there with because, for one thing, it involved less fabric than half a tank top. It looked like one of those swimsuits that he'd seen in advertisements of Brazil in that it looked like two strips of white cloth no more than an inch or two wide that formed a V on her front just barely concealing the majority of her breasts as well as her crotch. Given the way these strips were shaped, they went from one inch to one centimeter once it went past her chest and was tied behind her neck beneath her hair. The same went for the other end except he only assumed that it thinned out before emerging from the other end and wrapping around her waist before being tied securely. Not that he was really comprehending all these facts since, thanks to significant lack of blood circulating throughout his brain, he was pretty much on blue screen of death. 

"So what do you think, Xander?" She asked before doing a quick twirl to show off the swimsuit from all sides, "According to this lady I met in the changing room, it's called a Brazillian wrap swimsuit. Definitely tan friendly, don't you think?"

"Uh…wha…duh…yeah?" Was the best she was able to get from him at that time.

Had she not done a twirl, he might have managed to say something a tad more articulate but seeing as how she revealed that the two strips that had gone between her legs had been reduced to shoelace width, thus becoming butt floss, it had an effect. There was a part of his brain that was trying valiantly to fight the overwhelming visual stimulus that was currently sending the majority of the blood flow south of the border. He made some progress so long as he kept his gaze on the neck up but that only raised his mental faculties to about sixty percent of normal with this fluctuation up and down always. The fluctuation of his mental state came from his more rational side gloating inside his head saying 'told ya so' over and over again. The rest of his mind had to admit that his rational side had a point. Betsy was a lot like Faith in that the topic of sex or flaunting what one had wasn't very taboo as far as they were concerned. They also had a wicked sense of humor and loved to see him squirm and go tomato faced for their own amusement. Right then and there, he made a mental promise **NEVER** to let the two of them meet and if by some chance they did meet he'd make sure he was in the next **country** until they parted. 

"I thought so too, but maybe I should try a few of the others on as well. What do you think?" Elisabeth Braddock asked him in a tone that implied innocence but that he knew was anything but.

"I think once is quite enough, Elisabeth," came a regal yet displeased voice from the direction of the store's entrance/exit.

Looking in that direction, he was relieved beyond words to see Storm standing there with Cecilia just behind her and, while he could tell that the doctor was amused by his reaction to Psylocke's words, Ororo was the disapproving sister. He was **SAVED!** Now that Storm was there, she would not only take charge of things like the field commander she was but, hopefully, Betsy would be less inclined to do anything naughty. After all, it was one thing to torment him when it was just the two of them along with a store full of strangers, but it was quite another thing to do it with fellow teammates present. Especially if one of those fellow teammates had some measure of authority over her like Storm did being the field leader in Cyclops' absence. Plus, the woman had the whole regal-queen-looking-disapprovingly-down-at-you look down to a science and that just had to have some effect on the uninhibited British ninja woman. 

"Hey Ororo! Your stomach settled down now?" Betsy asked as though she took no notice of her teammate's displeased state of mind.

"I am quite fine now. However I believe that Alexander is on the verge of a mental breakdown thanks to that…swimsuit you are wearing." Ororo replied, increasing the displeasure in her voice in order to pierce through the blatant denial that Betsy was employing, "I was willing to aide you earlier in the bit of fun you had at Jonathan's expense but this is going too far, Elisabeth. Now get dressed and let us leave before mall security has us forcibly ejected for vagrancy."

Just like he had hoped would happen, Storm was putting her regal field commander foot down and, unless Psylocke wanted to be stuck with kitchen duty for the next month, that was that. The Brit ninja might like to have her fun from time to time but he seriously doubted that she'd risk menial labor just for a little more time to push his buttons to watch him squirm. 

"Oh c'mon 'Ro! Stop being such a wet blanket about this!" Betsy said, walking over the weather witch, not caring one little bit about the various reactions she was getting from the other store patrons, "I'm just having a little fun and it's not like Xander isn't having a little bit of fun either. Though, unless my eyes were playing tricks on me, there's nothing **little** about him!"

Going tomato red, he immediately tried to cover his lap up since he could indeed feel Xander junior standing at full mast in his pants. Then again he was sure that she could have paraded around in that swimsuit in front of a dead man sixty years in his grave and gotten the same kind of reaction. That athletic and sexy body garbed in the barest amounts of cloth in order to keep her from being arrested for public nudity had nearly knocked his mind offline within the first three seconds of laying eyes on it. However he was still certain that with a little will power and some out-of-sight-out-of-mind time he could calm himself down enough that he wouldn't be walking out of the mall with a tent in his pants. Storm fortunately would make sure of that by laying down the law with Betsy and making it clear that 'make Xander have a nervous breakdown' time was over. 

"Somehow I think that he is more flustered than amused, Elisabeth. It is unlikely, after all, that he would have much experience dealing with older women flaunting their bodies in front of him." Ororo pointed out, hoping that by making it clear Xander was not enjoying himself that Psylocke would remember herself and stop. 

"All the more reason for him to gain some experience, my dear! In the time I've spent with Xander today, I've come to the conclusion that he is a veritable uncut diamond in the rough just waiting for someone to turn into a jewel without peer." Betsy said, sounding confident and passionate about what she was saying, "One of the first things that needs to be cut away though is his poor self-image. I may not know anything about how he grew up, but it couldn't have been very pleasant to make him so underrate himself. We need to change that."

_NO! Don't listen to her Storm! Stay firm in your position!_ He thought with his mind at full blast since shouting his encouragement out loud would have only made the situation worse.

"While I will concede that Alexander seems to think too little of himself, I somehow doubt that parading around him in such…attire is the way to go about it." Storm said, agreeing with at least some of what her teammate had to say.

"On the contrary, Ororo, it is the only way to go about it. If we just talk to him about it anything we have to say will just go in one ear and out the other. Same thing for trying to ease him into the whole thing in smaller steps." Psylocke said, sounding like her argument was the most obvious thing in the world, "The only way we're going to be able to help him out is do use the head first technique and force him to change the hard way. Otherwise he'll just fall back onto old habits and never change at all."

"Who says I have to change at all?" He muttered to himself as the grape-haired woman talked about his future self without consulting him first.

"Your friends, that's who, Xander." Betsy replied somehow reappearing at his side with her right arm thrown over his shoulder, "I understand that you've been comfortable just coasting along and not really putting any effort into improving yourself but it's a rule of nature as well as society that that which does not evolve dies. A person who does not strive to improve themselves is doomed to live only a fraction of the life they could have had."

He only caught half of what she said though because the second he realized that she had her arm around his shoulders his guy intellect also informed him that she had half her exposed torso pressed up against him. That meant the side of her right breast and her right hip were up against his left arm and his left hip with only his own clothes preventing skin-to-skin contact. That thought alone almost brought a recurrence of the hormonal blue screen of death but, thankfully, he was a little more prepared this time around. He heard her talking about how it was necessary for a person to improve themselves if they wanted to get anywhere in life. With what brain power he had left he knew that that was true to a degree but the fact of the matter was that he was happy with his life the way it was. He had good friends, the basics to living and, thanks to the X-Men, the odd adventure every now and again to keep things interesting. He didn't want to become a ladies man or some social hotshot that other guys wanted to be like in some way. He was perfectly happy just being himself.

"So you see, Ororo? I was just trying to pull Xander out of the rut he's been lying in for most of his life and show him what opportunities are out there." Betsy said as she walked about halfway to Storm, "So? Care to help?"

_NO WAY! There's no way that Storm would fall to the Dark Side like Psylocke has!_ He thought in complete denial of the danger he saw looming on the horizon.

_Actually Storm has a wild side all her own. She just keeps it bottled up most of the time so she doesn't typhoon some place out of existence._ Came Betsy's voice from inside his head and almost had him exclaiming out loud if he hadn't steeled himself from her previous actions, _Plus, I think she personally keeps a look out for opportunities to let her inner wild child out!_

This theory was proven true when, not a minute later, Storm got this weird look on her face that sent a tremor of coldness spiraling down his spine to the tips of his toes. She had the look of someone who had never once considering perpetrating an act of mischief suddenly deciding that she'd like to give it a try. 

"Well I suppose that if you are providing Elisabeth with your honest opinion and it is of some benefit to you, then I will provide my own contribution." Storm said before she walked over to the ladies swimsuit section with Cecilia, made a selection he couldn't see and then headed into the ladies changing room.

Worse yet was that, Cecilia decided against being the odd person out and also perused the swimsuit selection before grabbing something and dashing into the changing room after Storm!

He knew right then and there that if he didn't make a break for it immediately he was going to faint clean away the second that Ororo and Cecilia came out in their swimsuits. At this point he didn't even care that he might hurt their feelings by fleeing like a coward because that'd be preferable to being seen as some kind of pervert. True, he wouldn't actually be acting like one on purpose but he had little doubt that his mouth would accidently say something or his mind would go to a naughty place regardless of his wishes. Given that he was in the presence of a telepath who'd pick up on those thoughts and one of the people he might blurt the wrong thing out to was capable of tossing lightning blasts, he decided that a little emotional hurt now was better than some serious physical pain. However, just as he was about to turn thought into action, Betsy took the running option right out of his hands by plunking her swimsuit wearing self right down onto his lap. This had the mixed effect of weighing him down and being incredibly intimate at the same time, thus making escape impossible. If he tried to force her off his lap, he'd only be making a spectacle of himself in front of everyone since she'd no doubt resist his efforts. Add to that the lack of safe handholds for him to use and he'd likely only dig himself a deeper hole that would be impossible to get out of.

Plus the small part of him that was a lecher had to admit that he liked the fact that she was sitting in his lap.

He was hopeless.

_Perhaps, but at least you're a little more honest with yourself then most men._ Betsy thought into his mind while the smile on her face implied that she was telling the truth rather than just having a little bit of fun with him, _Now brace yourself!_

Hearing the sounds of two sets of feet coming from the direction of the ladies changing room, he mentally steeled himself for the worst case scenario, which meant suits with the least amount of fabric yet.

First up was Storm in a suit that was surprisingly decent, considering that it involved more cloth than Betsy's and looked more like the bikinis he was used to seeing. That did not mean that he wasn't knocked for a loop by what he saw because, with the beauty of Ororo Munroe and a swimsuit that barely covered the essentials decently enough, he was quite stunned. It was white in color and hugged her curves nicely and when she did a twirl to give him a thorough look, he saw that it was tied both around her back and her neck. However it was the thong bottom part that nearly caused an inappropriate thought to come into existence, but he clamped down on it like a hated enemy.

"So what do you think, Alexander? Do I look good in it?" Storm asked, sounding like she was genuinely interested in his opinion but also enjoying his cornered animal behavior.

"Definitely! You'd be the queen of the beach in that!" Was what how he replied out loud but, in his head, his thoughts were more along the lines of, _But I'd rather see you out of it._

It took only a second of seeing the scandalized but also mightily amused look on Storm's face to figure out that somehow Ororo had caught that last thought. 

Maybe she was also a telepath and just hadn't told anyone?

Nah! More likely Betsy waited for him to slip up and passed the thought along!

"Why Alexander! I had no idea you thought of me like that!" Ororo said with mock surprise and a smile containing barely restrained laughter, "Never the less, thank you for the compliment."

"And what am I? Chopped liver?" Came the voice of Cecilia Reyes to the left of Storm sounding a little put out at being overlooked.

Looking over in the right direction he was floored by what he saw because in a way it was one of his fondest images live and in person. There before him with hands on her hip was one Doctor Cecilia Reyes wearing a swimsuit similar to those worn by the female lifeguards on Baywatch. He described it as similar because, while it was red and it did have a similar shape, he highly doubted that a suit like this would have made it on the air with the TV censors watching. The plunging neckline that almost went **past** her chest and the fact that bottom half was cut so high that he was pretty sure the suit looked like a wife beater shirt and thong from behind would have seen to that. While she wasn't quite in the same league body-wise as Storm or Psylocke, she was not average by any means as far as he could tell. However the fact that Xander junior chose to agree with him only made things worse for him given that Betsy was sitting in his lap. 

"If the cucumber that's poking me it any clue, Cecilia, I'd say he **definitely** approves of your choice! Heheheheheh!" Betsy said before doing something truly evil to him and wiggling her backside into his lap.

This, of course, brought him right back to between eighty-five and ninety percent of complete mental shutdown, causing the world around him to begin to fade in and out of coherency. After all, when surrounded by so much lust inducing images and then having a beautiful British ninja grind her butt into your lap, how could any teenage American guy keep his head on straight? It was then that Psylocke finally chose to have mercy on him and got up out of his lap before making her way towards the changing room. 

"Well, ladies, I'd say we've had quite the **successful** shopping trip." Betsy said before turning to look him in the eye and wink saucily, "Let's go buy these suits and give Xander time to recover his wits. I think we might have ridden him a little too hard today."

_You're the only one who did any riding!_ He thought a little grumpily at how Betsy had almost made him experience an aneurism with all the fun she had at his expense. 

_And __**what**__ a __**ride**__ it was!_ Came Betsy's thought at him.

This only made his face return to the tomato red color and a few people walking around the store who saw this chuckled a bit at the young man in the company of three veritable super models.

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_**X-Mansion, Evening, Living Room**_

"I could take all three of them on at once! No problem." Betsy said as the four of them watched the battle between Darth Maul, Obi-wan Kenobi and Qui-Gon Jinn on the TV.

"Maybe, but somehow I don't think you'd fit in all that well there." Xander said from his position in the corner of the L-shaped couch that sat in the living room, "After all, you have style, charisma, sex appeal and don't like clothes that make you look like a monk or a hood ornament."

"True, but I'd definitely be the center of attention and that's precisely where I always want to be." Psylocke said with a grin from her place on the floor between his legs, with her back leaning up against the couch.

It was quite a strange scene in the living room of the X-Mansion but, at the same time, it reminded him of the good times back in Sunnydale. Back then, after a slow patrol or just when they wanted to hang out, he, Buffy and Willow would curl up on the couch in the Summers home with snacks to watch a good movie. Now here he was watching the recently released to VHS and DVD Star Wars prequel in his sweat pants and T-shirt with Storm, Psylocke and Doc Reyes arrayed around him watching the movie as well. Storm was wearing normal pajamas that looked like a sweats and dress shirt combo but was obviously designed to be sleep wear rather than something someone wore out in public. As for Cecilia, she wore a tank top and sweats that hung on her quite well. In fact, if he was a betting man, he'd say that she wasn't wearing a bra or anything under that tank top. Not that he actually took the time to look hard enough to tell for certain. Nope! It was just a theory based on a passing glance across the room and she just happened to enter his field of vision.

It was Betsy, however, that chose to wore something that only **looked** to be completely innocent but, depending on how she chose to sit or move about, it could turn into something quite **provocative**. It was a combination of black halter-top and silk women's boxer shorts that slid around her curves like water and did as good a job concealing what needed to be concealed. Oh, it wasn't as outlandish as the bathing suit she had been wearing at the store in the mall, obviously not wanting to incur another lecture from Storm, but it was still something a skilled woman like Psylocke could make hotter than lingerie with ease. The fact that she chose to sit between his legs and occasionally arched her back to look up at him from time to time proved this beyond a reasonable doubt. For one thing, when she did that he was treated to a look down her halter top, allowing him an ample view of her tits as well as confirmation that she, like Cecilia, had chosen to go bra-less for their little get together. Never once did she give any indication that she was doing this on purpose, though, but given her antics at the mall earlier, he wouldn't put anything past her. 

"I think it is safe to say, Elizabeth, that no one will ever prove capable of overlooking you once you've set your mind to getting their attention." Ororo said from her position to the right of him on the couch.

Storm had been initially hesitant about this movie as the one they'd watch together but, with a few well-chosen words, she'd decided to give it a shot. As further compensation, he grabbed a popular chick flick from one of the racks in the video store and promised if she didn't like Star Wars Episode One: The Phantom Menace, they switch to it. It was a move he had used with great success in the past whenever he, Buffy and Willow got into an argument over the movie they were going to watch. He'd choose an action or sci-fi movie that he really wanted to see and use a popular chick flick as a standby to get them to agree. True, that had resulted in him watching enough chick flicks to bring his manliness into doubt but he made sure to compensate by employing the box of Playboy magazines that his Uncle Rory had given him behind his parents' back. Fortunately for him, this time it seemed that all three women were at least moderately interested in the movie and didn't seem to be wanting to switch over to the chick flick. 

"Yeah, 'cause it's a proven fact that sex sells and she certainly isn't shy about flauntin' the goods in public." Cecilia said with just a bit of jealousy in her voice from her position on his left.

Cecilia, on the other hand, had been somewhat apathetic to the whole thing and, when he'd asked her about it, she'd said that her time in the operating room made it difficult for her to properly enjoy a movie. He could kinda see her point of view since gunfights and swordfights might look cool on film but it's probably different for those doing the doctor work afterwards in real life after something like that. Still, if the look on her face was anything to go by, then it was a safe bet that she was enjoying the movie and was only partially medically assessing how to patch up the injured or killed extras. 

"Modesty is a waste of time. It's my body and if I want to show just how beautiful it is to the world, then that's my business." Elizabeth said with neither shame nor denial in her voice whatsoever.

That pretty much put an end to the conversation for the time being and, for the next thirty minutes, they finished watching the conclusion of the first of three prequels to the classic Star Wars trilogy. All in all he had to say that the movie was a little bit like cardboard in that it lacked the same sort of depth he was used to from the classic movies but he knew that that was only because Lucas was busy setting the stage in this episode. He was sure things would get better in episode two and, hopefully, Natalie Portman wouldn't have to wear hood ornament clothing like she had to in this one. Sure, they were impressive to look at and he had no doubt that the wardrobe staff had worked their asses off to make them, but, just like that infamous Halloween night, he preferred spandex. Sure, the frills and bulkiness of formal wear had its place but too much of it was just overkill in his book. Eventually, though, the end credits came onto the screen, signifying the end of the movie and sadly that left the opportunity for either all of them to head to bed or pop the chick flick in for another two hours of entertainment. Personally he was feeling a little drained from the day of shopping, plus all the hijinks that Psylocke put him through. The others looked a little better off than him but it wouldn't surprise him if they were in the same frame of mind.

"Well, what do you say, ladies?" He asked after draining the last of the Pepsi in his glass, "You up for watching 'Shakespeare in Love' or should we all turn in for the night?"

"We'll watch the other movie, of course." Betsy replied as though it was the most obvious thing in the world.

"Most certainly we will. While I was not displeased with your choice of movie, Alexander, I believe it would be a waste to leave the other one for tomorrow." Storm said with a nod of agreement as she popped another chocolate-covered raisin into her mouth.

"I might not be as much of a chick flick girl as most of America, but a little sappiness every now and again can be a good thing." Cecilia said with a look that verified that she wasn't as big a fan of girl movies as most of female America was.

"Well then it looks like I'm outvoted. Pop the other movie in Betsy." He said figuring that since she was both on the floor already and closer to the DVD player that she should be the one to make the swap.

Nodding once, Psylocke got on her hands and knees and crawled over to the DVD player that rested beneath the TV. Seeing her do this though immediately made him wish that he had gotten off his lazy butt and switched the movies instead. If he had he wouldn't have noticed the fact that the boxers Betsy was wearing riding up her legs until the bottom halves of both butt cheeks were exposed. If that wasn't bad enough the baggy nature of her halter top resulted in quite an enticing view **up** her shirt rather than **down** it like earlier. Needless to say that when the two views were combined in his head, he got a rather complete image of what the whole thing had to look like. He did his best to wipe the image from his head as well as all thoughts connected to it, since he had no doubt Betsy would find such thoughts both amusing and useful ammunition. 

_This is going to be a long night!_ He thought with some displeasure at having to monitor his own thoughts tirelessly in order to keep anything improper from floating to the surface. 

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_**The X-Mansion, 7:00a.m the Next Day**_

"Be it evah so humble, there's no place like home, eh, Sugah?" Rogue asked Gambit as the group that'd left for Muir Island got out of the cab they'd taken from the airport.

"Dat be true, chere. Comin' home after a trip always feel good." Remy said as the four of them walked up to the front door and entered the mansion proper with their bags in hand. 

It had not been originally part of their plan to come home so soon but after Deathbird made a particularly choice comment to Meggan, it was decided that it would be best to leave ASAP before Brian took offense to the insult to his wife, so they'd hopped on the Midnight Express back to the states and had only just made it back thanks to some storm activity over the Atlantic. As it was most of them were experiencing various degrees of jet lag and, judging by her crabby attitude, Deathbird was definitely running on vapors. If the Shi'ar woman didn't get some sleep soon, she was definitely going to snap and it would not be pretty for anyone to be around. 

"Ya'll head to bed. Me an' Remy'll fill the others in on how things went." She said, figuring that it wouldn't take too long to let Storm know what they could expect in terms of equipment.

It had been a hope of her's that they'd be able to get their hands on a spare Blackbird but, sadly, the only plane they had was already labeled as belonging to X-Factor. Still, they'd managed to lay hands on a CEREBRO unit and a few of the other doo-dads that used to be utilized by the now-disbanded Excaliber. They wouldn't quite be up to where they were prior to Bastion coming and gutting the place, but they'd be a sight better than they were before. Watching the others go upstairs to their rooms, Rogue began to head for the kitchen where she figured Storm was probably having her morning tea. It was common knowledge around the mansion that the Wind Rider started her day out by flying amongst the clouds while letting her emotions gain a little more freedom. Once that was done, it was straight to the kitchen for some tea and toast before beginning her list of things to do for the day. 

However, it was as she passed the living room that she came upon a sight that was both a surprise but, at the same time, warmed her heart a bit. Sitting on the couch in front of the TV, she could see Xander fast asleep with no sign of waking up anytime soon. What surprised her, though, was that Ororo was right there with him, leaning on his shoulder to use it as a pillow, and was just as asleep as he looked to be. It was kinda sweet, but also odd since, to her knowledge, Storm would only do something like this with someone that she felt close to or at least considered a good friend. She could tell from the slight chuckle that came from Remy that he was amused as well but he was probably feeling a bit of surprise as well. The Cajun looked at Storm as a sister and a partner in crime, so he probably had a good idea about Ororo's reasons for this.

However it was then that another person made their presence known in the living room in the form of an undignified snort.

Curious about this, both she and Gambit walked into the living room to find **both** Betsy and Cecilia asleep as well, with Psylocke sitting on the floor leaning against the couch and Cecilia using Xander's lap as a pillow. Looking about the room, Rogue could tell that they probably fell asleep watching a movie or two since there were two open cases from a local video rental place on the floor. Further proof of this came up when she watched the movie begin to replay itself on the screen showing the opening credits of the film. The question, though, was whether or not to wake them up or let them sleep since they probably needed it almost as much as the rest of them. They looked comfortable enough and she knew from past experience that it wasn't too unpleasant to fall asleep on this particular couch. For a moment she decided that it'd be okay to leave them there to wake up on their own.

That changed when she noticed two things.

The first was that there was something rather hard poking up from Xander's lap.

The second was that Doc Reyes' mouth seemed to be headed towards it while she slept in a position more akin to someone about to enjoy a popsicle.

Moving fast, Rogue flew over the couch and immediately clamped one gloved hand over the doctor's mouth while at the same time bringing her into a sitting position. This, of course, woke the doctor up but, thanks to the hand over her mouth and the strength she possessed, Rogue managed to muffle the majority of her exclaim of surprise. As it was, it was still enough to wake up Ororo and Betsy but Xander, surprisingly, still slept as though nothing had happened. Then again, given the young man's tendency to not get out of bed before noon if he didn't have to, she supposed it was only natural that he'd sleep through a muffled voice. 

Once she was sure that Cecilia wouldn't make any more noise, she removed her mouth and took a step back.

"Rise n' shine Sugah." She said softly so as not to wake Xander up.

"Morning Rogue." Cecilia said after letting loose a rather large yawn, "Mind explaining why you were trying to suffocate me just now?"

"Well… the thing is darlin'…in your sleep… your mouth was kinda movin' into dangerous territory." She replied before pointing awkwardly in the direction of Xander's morning wood.

It took the Doc less than three seconds to clue into what was being said and, almost immediately, she blushed while touching her own lips. Embarrassment was obvious for all to see but for Rogue, she thought she saw something else in the woman's eyes that she had trouble identifying. Was it shame? No. If it wasn't for the fact that it was totally impossible, she would have said that the emotion she saw in Cecilia's eyes was disappointment. What she could have been disappointed about was a question she preferred not to pursue in search of an answer. Fortunately the doctor didn't want to engage in a Q&A either and quickly left the area, heading in the direction of the kitchen. Storm and Betsy though were still around with the latter stretching like a cat revealing that her clothes were a little too small to adequately cover everything that should be covered. Whether this was done on purpose or by accident, Rogue couldn't really tell, but her better nature hoped it was by accident because she'd hate to consider the implications of it being done on purpose. It was true that Psylocke had an aggressively flirtatious personality but Xander was easily a good five years younger than her, if not more than that. True, he had a look about him that made it seem that he was a good few years older than he actually was and it was true that he was legally an adult, but it still wasn't right. 

She blatantly ignored a whispering voice that chose to play devil's advocate from the back of her mind. 

"Welcome home, Rogue." Storm said, being mindful of Xander's still sleeping form, "I trust your trip to Muir Island was productive."

"Pretty much. We managed to get their CEREBRO plus a few other bits of gear, but X-Factor called dibs on their Blackbird." She replied watching as Psylocke headed in the direction of the upstairs bathroom, presumably to take a shower, "They'll be shippin' the stuff over in a few days then it'll take about two weeks for it to get to us. Kurt, Kitty and Peter also said they were thinking about rejoining the team but wanted to think on it a bit more."

"That's wonderful news. It will be truly nice to see them again." Ororo said with genuine happiness at the thought of the potential return of three friends.

"Sure will. Now howsabout we leave sleeping beauty here and talk over the particulars someplace else." She said indicating Xander's still sleeping form.

"Of course." Ororo said with a nod.

Walking out together, she hoped that Remy would take the hint and leave Xander alone. The Cajun and the So-Cal boy had become good friends ever since Golden-Eyes stood up for the swamp rat in front of everyone after their return from Antarctica. Still, Gambit had something of a playful streak in him and there was a chance that Remy might try and exploit the present situation for some personal amusement. 

_If'n he does that, the Swamp Rat better be ready for a cold spell as far as ah'm concerned!_ She thought making a personal promise to punish the Cajun for any mischief he perpetrated against Xander.

She didn't even consider asking herself why she was so protective of Xander or so quick to retaliate against the man who held her heart.

Perhaps because she believed there was nothing to ask about?

Who knew?

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_**One Minute After Both Storm and Rogue Left the Room, Xander's P.O.V**_

His wake up call was rather rude, all things considered, but he would later reflect that he should have expected it given that he'd fallen asleep on the couch in the living room. 

Nevertheless, falling asleep on the couch and being woken up by the pain of his head connecting with the hard wooden floor hurt. The only good part of the whole experience was that the feeling of pain brought him to a more coherent state of mind much quicker than he otherwise might have. Sitting up, there were a few things that he picked up on almost immediately: it was morning, Gambit was back from his trip with the others to Muir Island and none of the ladies he recalled falling asleep with were there anymore. Not that he thought of 'asleep with' in the improper sense, but he was fairly certain that they fell asleep around the same time as they did. Once he took in the basic info, he was ready for the more detailed info and what he saw did not sit with him well at all. Whenever the Cajun had a smile like that, he had either just pulled off a particularly fine heist or saw a chance to have some devil-may-care fun.

"Sleep well, mon ami?" Gambit asked in a normal tone but with a twinkle that spoke of inner amusement.

"What in the hell are you talking about, Gambit?" 

"De femmes. Always de femmes," was all that Remy would say as the card-throwing mutant turned towards the stairs and began to walk towards them.

To this all Xander could do was shake his head, recall the events of the past twenty-four hours and wonder what he had done to earn such an 'interesting' life.

And he **still** didn't know where his missing clothes were!

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_**Basement of the Mansion, Utility Closet**_

_I wish those overworlder weaklings would just be quiet!_ Marrow thought with a growl before she tried to get comfortable again in her bed of sheets and personal treasures.

Her treasures were made up of a great many things both from her past as well as her present. A doll Callisto had made for her when she was young, bone fragment weapons that marked important victories, pictures of the form she wished she possessed and her most recent acquisition. Bringing the biggest part of the set to her face she breathed in deeply the scent that was buried in the fabric from repeated use by its original owner. Ever since she had first laid eyes on his powerful form, he had been in and out of her thoughts without fail and it had only gotten worse as time went on. However she wasn't quite willing to make a move on him just yet, but it also meant that there was a limit to how often she could be around him without raising suspicion. It had been then that she had come upon an idea that would allow her to be around him whenever she wanted. When he had been out at work, she had slipped into his room and took a quick selection from his dresser drawer as well as a few clothes that had been discarded on the floor. It was those that she had with her now, the clothes covered in his scent, and to her it meant that he would always be with her. Whenever she wanted, she could hold his clothes close to her and pretend that he was really there with her.

_It might not be as satisfying as the real thing, but it'll do for now._ She thought as she slipped back into slumber and dreams of him.

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_**Second Floor of the X-Mansion, Deathbird's Room**_

_At last that pathetic mission is over!_ Cal'Syee Neramani thought as she stripped the clothes of her body in preparation for some much needed rest. 

It had been a waste of her efforts going to that primitive facility in the hopes that they would possess intergalactic communications equipment. It had been her plan that, should she have found such equipment, she would contact the Empire to ask for a status update on the stagate system repairs. While her time on this world hadn't been **entirely** unpleasant, she was eager to return to her domain and, if she had her way, she'd return with one extra passenger accompanying her. While Xander had not proven himself perfect in every way, what she had seen had been enough to seal the young terran's fate as her future consort. He possessed a keen mind and the power he possessed was as formidable as any member of the Praetorian Guard, including the much arrogant Gladiator. Indeed, with him as the spearhead of her forces, in a few years she could quite feasibly make an attempt to once again claim the title of Majestrix and dethrone her incompetent sister. 

_However, with no communications device it would seem I must endure the hardships of this primitive world a bit longer._ She thought as she began to pull on the boxers and dress shirt she commonly wore to bed now, _Hopefully the terran will make the time more bearable and, should __**I**__ decide so, perhaps even pleasurable._

Once dressed for sleep, she slipped beneath the adequate bed sheets and prepared to fall asleep in order to recover her strength from the long flight. This was made much easier by the comfortable sleep wear she had chosen and how it felt caressing her body gently as she moved. She would have to compliment Xander when she had the chance.

He had excellent taste in clothes with which to garb himself with.

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I know that some of you readers are beginning to wonder where exactly I am taking things with so many of the female mansion residents showing a more than passing attraction to Xander. All I will say is that the answers will come over the course of the next two to three chapters. Until then enjoy the **insanity!**


	19. Mr Murphy Strikes Again!

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the copyrighted material contained in this fanfic

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the copyrighted material contained in this fanfic. It is the rightful property of the creators and associated companies. I make no profit off of this whatsoever and do not intend to make one in the future. This is written for my own personal amusement and the enjoyment of the readers who like my work.

&

_**One Week Later, X-Mansion, Xander's POV**_

_MAN!! What the heck is up with me this week!?_ Xander thought as he continued on doing what had been the norm for him the past week.

Running along in what must have been his third lap around the **entire** perimeter of the Xavier Estate, he looked back on how his behavior had gone from just slightly odd to downright weird. At first it had been little things, like suddenly requiring less sleep than he usually had, but then it evolved into possessing an overabundance of energy upon waking. That was one of the reasons why he had started running laps around the estate because it usually took ten laps in order to burn off enough of the excess energy for him to function normally. Even then some people found him to be overly peppy and usually made jokes about how much coffee he had to drink or how he should cut back on the sugar. Of course that might have something to do with the fact that his reflexes had also gone up to the point where he'd come within a hairs breath of decking his boss at the end of the night. He'd managed to excuse it as being spooked from the latest 'mutie' incidents in the big cities and, fortunately for him, the uncle-ish-looking man bought it. However it was really beginning to frustrate him given that it was getting harder to stay in control.

And then there was the fact that his sense of smell was going through the roof lately.

Ever since he'd become the vessel for Kung Lung, his senses had been heightened by quite a bit but not enough to make life too uncomfortable. Eventually he'd gotten used to it and the strangeness of it all had faded to the back of his mind to the point where it took a seriously strange smell to remind him of the 'improvements'. Lately, though, his sense of smell had gotten to the point where he could still detect an odor three days old even if someone had gone to the trouble of doing a light cleaning job on it. This, unfortunately, had led him to avoid certain places completely and made him painfully aware of various pungent aromas. He did his best to keep this to himself but he figured that Logan had figured it out before the clawed mutant left on a trip someplace. However there were certain times when he had to leave the room or go crazy and the most dangerous of those times was whenever a roomie of the female persuasion got too close. Sometimes it was something innocent, like being able to tell what they had for their last meal or what scent their body wash was, but there were also times that he smelled something **different** coming from them and, while he couldn't identify the scent, there was what it **did** to **him**. Thoughts went right into the gutter, body temp rose and Xander junior felt it necessary to make its presence both felt as well as visually known. Needless to say he didn't think he'd ever be able to face Betsy after that one time when she'd come into the living room, fresh from a workout and sat down with him to watch Indiana Jones.

Leaping over a log, he found out too late that he shouldn't have because his feet landed on a patch of ice. This naturally wasn't exactly a good surface to try and stop one's movement on and, as a result, he wound up landing flat on his face. An anger came over him at this outcome, an anger that could have easily led to him throwing a Wolverine-level temper tantrum on the environment, but he managed to cool himself off. As he stood up, he decided that that, increased irritability with the potential to lead to fury close by, was another thing that had cropped up only it took this little incident to convince him it wasn't boredom that was the cause. Apparently, along with everything else, his temper was flaring up at odd times and while he hadn't done anything to harm anyone just yet this latest case had him concerned, enough so that he was glad he'd put a call into Dr. Strange two days ago asking if the Sorcerer Supreme could do some research. Given the Asian clothed-clad man the criteria to look for, Stephen assured him that, barring a mystical emergency, he'd get right to work. Hopefully he'd get an answer to what was going on with him sometime soon.

_I just hope it isn't a sign that Kung Lung is getting stronger._ He thought as he tried to wipe off as much snow as possible, _'Cause if that is what it means then I might have to take some serious measures so I don't wind up hurting the others._

Deciding that the mood was pretty much ruined as far as his run was concerned, he turned around and started running back in the direction of the mansion. Even if he tried to get the remaining laps in, his mind would still be fixed on his tumble and running would just make his bad mood worse. Avoiding any terrain that could force him to leap again, it took a good ten minutes longer to get back to the mansion. When he entered the kitchen through the back door, though, he found a cup of hot chocolate and a pretty Southern Belle named Rogue waiting for him. Glancing at the clock that hung over the stove, he was a bit puzzled at her being there because usually she was still in bed at this time. While some of the X-Men were early risers like Storm, he and Ms. Skunk had a common trait in that they didn't like getting up any earlier than eleven in the morning. Considering it had just turned nine, it was definitely not in keeping with her usual daily routine and that made him curious as to this reason for breaking her sleeping habits.

"You take a spill, hon'?" she asked while taking sips from her own mug of hot chocolate.

"Yeah. Found a patch of ice while running and slipped." He replied, taking off his coat and hanging it on the wall, "Fortunately I'll have the last laugh when all is said and done when spring comes."

"That you will, Sugah. Heheheheh!" Rogue said with a chuckle at his little bit of humor at his statement.

Sitting down, the high flyin' female X-man passed him his cup and, in an effort to get rid of the leftover chill from his run, he gulped down a mouthful. While before a steaming cup of hot chocolate would have required little sips in order to avoid burning his tongue, Kung Lung's presence made him much tougher where heat was concerned. It didn't mean that fire wouldn't burn him or scalding hot water would be fun for him but for something like hot chocolate the liquid might as well have been room temperature for all the harm it did him.

"So Sugah? What's with all these early mornin' runs?" Rogue asked with casual curiosity, though the look in her eyes indicated that she wanted to know, "Usually you're as grumpy as a grizzly if'n someone tried to wake you up this early."

"Well it's been a while since there's been any action around here and all this quiet is driving me nuts." He lied since he knew that the truth would only make things more complicated, "So I'm just trying to burn off all the extra energy I have stored up."

"Thing's usually pretty busy for you?" she asked sounding a bit suspicious of his answer.

"Well, not so much since I left California but back home I usually went out on patrol of my town at night." He replied deciding to feed her some of the truth rather than all, "We had a slight vamp problem and the local cops were too thick to figure out why so many people were dying from blood loss."

"This before or after you got yer dragon eyes?" she asked, obviously happy about learning more about him pre-Phalanx battle.

"Before, mostly. After I got these eyes I pretty much had to leave town." He replied with his mood dropping considerably with the memories of back then, "My friends and I did what we could to tough it out but eventually it just got to be too much so I left."

"I'm sorry to hear that, Sugah, but at least yer in good company then." Rogue said with distant eyes of her own as the past came forward in her mind, "Just about everyone here has a story like yours. Whether yer a mutant or not, normal folk have a hard time seeing past the differences between you an' them. That's why the X-Men means so much to us. It's a place where we can be ourselves and a place we can belong. It's home."

_Yeah. This place is definitely home for me now, too._ He thought as he looked about the place he'd been living in for the past few months.

It wasn't that he no longer cared about Sunnydale or his friends back there but rather that his apartment in NYC had never really felt like home, regardless of how long he'd lived there. It wasn't until he started living at the mansion that feelings of home began to flow into him and, in the end, he supposed that the reason was that he wasn't alone anymore. Even though he had friends at the Daily Grind, none of them had ever come to his apartment and, aside from a few random times after work, he hadn't really hung out with them either. It had been pretty much just him and for a guy who saw friends as family being alone was like a slow acting poison to his heart. It probably would have taken years but eventually he was sure that the Xander that everyone knew would have been gone, leaving only a cold, embittered man behind. Now that he had a home amongst the X-Men, he could put the hardships he'd endured since leaving the Scoobies behind him and look towards the future.

A flick to the head broke him out of his thoughts and it only took him a second to nail down Rogue as the source.

"What you thinkin' 'bout hun?" Rogue asked with a quiet smile on his face.

"Just about how much this place has come to feel like home to me." He replied as he finished his hot chocolate, "For a while I thought that nothing would feel home again but I guess that shows how smart I am, eh?"

"Well I'm no expert, Sugah, but in mah opinion home ain't a building or a specific spot but wherever the people you care most 'bout are." Rogue said with such conviction that it was clear she took these words to heart, "For me that's here with the X-Men. For you too, now, I guess."

"Looks like." He said in agreement both about this being his home now as well as to the truth of her statement about what home was.

"It is, hon', and that means if'n yer ever in a bind, ya always have someone here to call on fer help." Rogue said taking his right hand in both of hers and holding it firmly, "Ya got that?"

Looking at Rogue, looking her right in the eye, he could see more clearly than ever before what it was that Gambit saw in her that made him so lovesick over her. Most people would think that it was more her superficial looks that made her so attractive rather than anything else. However they would be wrong because, looking into her eyes right then, he saw the truth of the phrase that the eyes were the windows to the soul. Despite the nature of her powers and the no doubt numerous psychic fragments floating around her mind, the soul of this woman, the one that belonged there from the beginning, shone brighter than a thousand suns. Right then and there he knew that no matter what happened to her in the future, no force on the face of the Earth would be able to extinguish that beautiful light.

"Good morning Rogue, Xander." Came a voice that snapped them out of their staring match and reflexively back away from one another.

Looking towards the source, they both found out it was Hank 'Beast' McCoy who apparently had pulled another all-nighter setting up the medical equipment that they'd received three days ago from Muir Island. It wasn't much all told, a few computers and some basic lab equipment, with the most impressive thing being a portable quarantine cell. He'd asked Hank why'd they'd need something like that and the blue furred genius had replied by saying that sometimes they encountered mutants who emitted dangerous or toxic substances and were unable to stop it. Therefore a cell like this one was used to isolate those mutants from everyone else so no one would get hurt. Other uses were if an X-Men contracted some sort of disease or something went wrong with their powers so with those kind of answers it made sense to have a quarantine cell around.

"Ah…Morning, Beast." He said, trying to sound nonchalant rather than embarrassed at his hand being in Rogue's and staring at her.

"Mornin', Hank." Rogue said, trying and failing to get the slight blush to leave her cheeks, "Pull another all-nighter, did ya?"

"Indeed I did, my beauteous bountiful belle." Hank said as he poured himself a cup of coffee, "Sadly the instructions for assembling the quarantine cell were so vexing I made it my personal objective to assemble it in a single attempt. Needless to say it took me a while."

"Well, if you can't put it together, Hank, then it can't be put together." He said making a clear compliment to McCoy's I.Q.

"My thanks for the vote of confidence, Xander." Beast said before his left eyebrow went up a bit, "Are you alright? You look like you've had a bit of a fall."

"Y-yeah! Just got back from running where I slipped on a patch of ice." He said, trying to calm himself after thinking that Hank might've been referring to his unsettled state from looking into Rogue's eyes.

"Is that so? Well, do try to be more careful in the future, boyo." Said the bouncing Beast, "You might be as durable as Logan is but that doesn't mean I won't have to patch you up if you get hurt. 'kay?"

"Sure thing, Hank. I better go take a shower before I stink up the kitchen too much." He said as he got up and briskly made his way to the hallway, "See ya later!"

With that he left the kitchen post haste in the hopes that the whole scene he'd had with Rogue would be nothing more than a faded memory by the end of the day. The last thing he needed was Gambit hearing about it because while he might have helped the Cajun out the odds of that one save earning him a pardon for googlie eyes was slim.

&

_**Twenty Minutes Later, Outside of the Main Bathroom, Deathbird's P.O.V**_

_The time to act is __**now!**_ Cal'Syee Neramani thought as she listened to the shower run, _Before one of those mutant harlots tries to claim him!_

If someone had told her a terran year ago that she would be so enamored with a human, she'd would have had them painfully tortured for spouting such nonsense. Nor would anyone among her loyal subjects believe that **she**, the Regeant Deathbird, would ever lower herself to a primitive terran devoid of royal blood.

However they didn't know Xander.

In the time since they first met, her opinion of him had grown by leaps and bounds with every crisis he faced. She admitted that when she first saw him, she thought him no better than the weaklings the X-Men usually gathered to their group. However, when he used lethal force immediately upon sensing a threat, she was forced to reconsider her initial impression since Xavier's ilk were ever the last to take a life. During the battle against the foul Phalanx, he continued to impress her both with his skills as warrior as well as the strength of his will. It had been these things that had made her accept her weak sister's request to safeguard his trip home with the X-men. While it was true that the journey had come to a rather unexpected conclusion, she still did successfully see them home. It was then, during their struggles in the place the terrans called Antarctica, that she was further shown the true Xander beneath the fool's façade he usually wore. He proved that he had a sharp mind and a willingness to cross the line that his comrades would not. It was what she learned during their trip to the city of New York that she gained her the one piece of information that removed the final barrier between the two of them.

It had been on the roof, as her body had mostly completely rid her of the puny sedative the dart had put into her, looking down into the convention hall that she had heard two words that she would always remember.

Xander-Sama.

She had not known the word at the time but there was no mistaking the reverent tone that the man had used in speaking it. Once they had returned home, she had pondered long and hard what significance the addition to Xander's name was but had been unable to come up with anything on her own. Frustrated, she had decided to use the primitive computer that the mutants had purchased recently in order to gain the answers she sought. It had taken time, her familiarity with the system being an issue, but eventually come upon the answer she desired. Apparently the word was an honorific used in the terran country of Japan to denote someone who was of superior rank to the one who spoke it. It could also be used as a sign of respect or deference to someone or as a formal way of addressing the royalty of the country. Did this mean that Xander was somehow royalty or a person of rank on this world? Possibly, but if that was the case then the young man was either unaware of this or had chosen to hide it for some reason. Given the choice between the two reasons, she preferred to believe in the latter rather than the former, since it placed him in a better light. At the same time, though, it didn't bother her like she thought it would if it turned out that he was unaware of his royal calling. After all, if it turned out to be the case that he was unaware of his heritage, it would be much easier to place herself in a prime position to become his wife. It was only natural that royalty marry royalty after all and, now that she knew he was indeed royalty, any reservations she might have had about pursuing a relationship with him vanished. He was not a commoner. He **was** royalty. He was not a fool. He **was** cunning. He was not weak. He **was** strong!

It had been her initial intention to slowly seduce the boy, play a role that someone of his nature would find appealing, so that it was her that would claim his heart in the end. However that bothersome trip to Muir Island had ruined matters for her and caused her to curse those X-Men that dragged her along, promising her a way to contact the Empire. It turned out to be a fruitless effort since, while associated with the X-Men, the team known as Excalibur did not seem to have much of a need for an inter-galactic communications device. Thus she had been forced to endure terran hospitality there for a few days before being allowed to return to the X-Mansion. She had been tired when they had walked through the mansion's front doors and, while she had been tempted to seek Xander out, in the end she chose to wait until the next day.

However it was the next day that she learned that five more obstacles had been placed in her path to wedding Xander.

Storm, Psylocke, Dr. Reyes, Marrow and Rogue were all showing the young man affection that went past that attributed to simple friendship. Her acute sense of smell confirmed it for her beyond a reasonable doubt. What she was smelling from them were smells that went beyond simple friendship. They were **sexually aroused** in his presence! Her only consolation was that, thus far, her future husband had proven himself capable of resisting their advances so far but she worried that he would not be able to hold out forever. After all, he was a young man in the prime of his life as well as at an age where he possessed little, if any, experience dealing with the sexual advances of women. While she had no doubt that he would resist their efforts, since giving in would offend his sense of honor, there would a limit to how much he would be able to endure.

That was why she was making her move now before the others managed to make moves of their own. Checking her wardrobe, she confirmed the silk bathrobe that only came down to mid-thigh, the thong panties underneath but absolutely nothing else. The robe was for the sexual appeal, the lack of a bra was to arouse him and the thong was to give him **something** to remove. She knew he was in the shower now and had only been inside for a few minutes, so the odds of his body still being 'warmed up' from his run should be in her favor. She also knew that most of the mansion residents had either woken up already and had their showers or were still in bed with little chance of waking up anytime soon. To hedge her bets, though, she had acquired some sedatives from the Beast's infirmary that would still work when turned into a vapor and used them to ensure that those who were asleep remained asleep.

Now was the time to put her plan into motion and plant the first seed within the heart of the one she desired.

Opening the door as silently as possible in an effort to keep her prey from being forewarned of her approach, she slipped in before closing it just as quietly. With that done, she turned her attention to the curtain that was drawn across the alcove that was the bathtub. She stood there for a moment, admiring the blurred form her eyes could perceive, and felt great anticipation at what was about to happen. Her plan was a simple one: she would wait for him to exit the shower, compliment him on his nude form, offer to return the favor before casting off her robe and then, before he had a chance to object, she would move in to finish him off with a passionate kiss. With such a flawless plan, the young warrior's sense of reason would be overwhelmed and only his inner passion, his inner flame, would be left.

Offered the honor of joining with her in intimate bliss, he would be **hers**.

As her future love turned off the water and prepared to exit the shower, she prepared to make her move but the universe chose to thwart her efforts. No sooner did she see a hand about to slide the shower curtain aside then the door to the bathroom opened up to reveal Bishop. Judging by the way that the terran was in boxers and a T-shirt, it was obvious that he had just woken up. Cursing herself for somehow missing something, she immediately looked about the room to find something to explain her presence so she could make an escape. Looking about, she grabbed what she recognized as mouthwash from an encounter with Storm and made her way towards the hallway before leaving the immediate area. It wasn't that she particularly cared what the fool, though nor was her commitment to ensnaring Xander that weak, but she was NOT an exhibitionist. If she was going to seduce her future husband and mate with him, it was going to be done flawlessly and **without** an audience of any kind.

_Damn you Bishop! _She thought angrily as she sought one of the other bathrooms to take care of business, _You'll pay for your interference!!_

&

_**Living Room, One Hour Later, Xander's P.O.V**_

_I am __**SO**__ going to be scrubbing my brain out with bleach to get rid of __**that**__ memory!_ Xander thought as he watched Pamela Anderson run down a beach in her lifeguard swimsuit.

It had started out well enough. He'd entered the shower and turned the hot water on high enough that he could actually feel it falling a few degrees short of hurting him. He'd scrubbed himself from top to bottom so that every trace of chill and every lingering bit of soreness was removed from his body that he'd gained from his run. It had definitely been soothing but, when he pulled the curtain aside to step out afterwards, he was not greeted with an empty bathroom like he'd expected but rather with Bishop looking at him. Needless to say he'd yanked the curtain back as quickly as he could after a few vehement commands to the future cop to get out for a moment. Doing a rush dry job and slipping on his sweatpants and sweat shirt, he'd exited the bathroom, said a quick 'it is all yours' to Bishop and then made a swift retreat out of the immediate area. Eventually he'd decided that the best way to rid himself of the embarrassment of Bishop catching him naked was to flood his brain with images of bouncy-bouncy goodness. Unfortunately, while the images of babes in swimsuits running down a beach was successful in ridding his mind of the embarrassing encounter with Bishop, it was also making him antsy. While not exactly a monk when it came to women, it was also the case that he hadn't had a steady girlfriend since Cordy. What that meant was that while lefty wasn't a bad substitute when it came to taking the edge off of his 'needs', it was quickly beginning to lose its touch.

Thus, like someone had been listening in on his thoughts, he heard the pitter-patter of two separate sets of feet approaching him from behind. Turning to see who it was, he immediately knew that God, or at least A God, had it in for him because, approaching his position on the couch were none other than Betsy Braddock and Doc Reyes. He had kept himself on high alert around those two ever since they teamed up against him at the mall when he'd gone there to replenish his wardrobe. While they hadn't tried anything overt like parade around in their swimsuits, their use of double entendre had been growing in complexity as well as sexually. Then, whenever he'd tried to call them on it, they'd play the innocent card and ask him what he thought they'd meant when they'd said something, thus backing him into a corner where his only choices were to either drop it or look like pervert in front of the others. On that front the score was Betsy and Cecilia fourteen and him zero. So, whenever they came into the room, he did his best to find someplace else to be as quickly as he could. Sadly, in this case, they had anticipated his plan and were approaching him strategically so that he couldn't leave the room without making it obvious that he was trying to avoid them. Unless he wanted people to ask him why he was avoiding two of his roommates, he was pretty much stuck where he was until a more neutral reason presented itself.

"So, how was your run, Xan?" Cecilia asked as she sat down on his left side, "You burn off the pent up energy you seemed to have picked up recently?"

"Yep. I should be good until tomorrow." He said, keeping his reply quick and to the point so as not to give either woman something they could use.

"You know, there's more than one way to burn off energy." Betsy said casually so as to offset the **look** in her eye, "Me and Cecilia just finished doing some Aikido in what's left of the library."

It was right about then that the scent of their sweat reached his nose and he realized that his situation had just gone from bad to worse. It had been bad enough that the demented duo that had caused him so much discomfort at the mall had arrived but the fact that they were all sweaty meant that his heighted sense of smell was involved. He could now smell their sweat, among the other things their bodies were producing, now on an order of magnitude that made it almost impossible to smell anything else.

So guess what happens when you combine arousing stimulus with female scents on an almost overpowering level.

You guessed it!

You had one Xander Harris being subjected to such a cruel and inhumane form of torture that was sure to backfire on him in some way. Either he'd finally lose his battle against his libido and do something that would result in all the ladies giving him the 'you PERVERT' look for the next few weeks or he'd literally pop a brain vessel. At the moment he wasn't entirely certain which fate was the more painful fate because, considering the variety of powers possessed by the women there, if they got pissed he'd be **toast**, so his continued existence depended on finding some way to leave the room as soon as possible. Doing his best to camouflage his thoughts with the latest Britney Spears song, he tried to think of a feasible reason he could give the ladies for leaving them. McCoy had asked him to help in setting up the new equipment? No. Beast had pretty much finished and whatever might be left was probably not difficult enough to warrant the necessity of another pair of hands. Something work related down in Salem Center? Not likely since it was the weekend. Perhaps another 'get along with your roommate' session with Marrow? Possibly but sometimes the Morlock was just as difficult to be around as these ladies were at the moment.

In short, he was screwed, figuratively rather than literally.

Fortunately it was right about then that his savior arrived in the form of one Remy LeBeau, who apparently thought that now was the time to watch some TV with a bowl of spicy gumbo in hand. What the man was doing with a bowl of gumbo this early in the day, he didn't know, but it was already cutting through the female sweat and scents like a hot knife through butter. With one source of potentially dangerous stimulus removed, he just might be able to endure the next few hours without completely losing his common sense or sense of self-preservation. So, with a sigh of relief, he sat back against the couch no longer afraid of losing it.

"So, Gambit? What's with the gumbo so early it the day?" he asked, deciding that he really did want to know why the Cajun was eating it.

"Dis here be specially made by Mama Tante back home." Remy replied after swallowing the latest mouthful, "No better gumbo in de whole world. Got it yesterday in de mail and haven' been able to stop eatin' it since."

While it was interesting to hear about where Gambit came from it was more interesting for him because it gave him a way of flying the coop. After all, the smell of the gumbo wouldn't last forever and, once it was gone, he'd be right back where he started with Betsy and Doc Reyes.

"Do you mind if I have a bowl?" he asked, praying to whatever deity was listening right then that his prayers would be answered.

"Sure. Mama Tante sent a whole pot up. Help yourself." Remy replied with a nod before turning his attention back to the bowl of gumbo in his hands.

With **perhaps** a little too much haste, he left the room for the kitchen where the gumbo probably was.

He wasn't sure if he'd actually sample it or not yet.

&

_**Two Hours Later, The Makeshift 'Danger Room', Marrow's P.O.V**_

_Finally! He's Alone!! _Sarah thought as she watched her prey from the sidelines as he went through a pattern of strikes and blocks.

It had been several hours since she'd seen him slip out of the mansion for his morning run and the only thing that had kept her from taking advantage of that situation was the fact that she hated the cold weather.

Well, that and she didn't see the point of running in the first place.

She had remained watchful at the window overlooking the rear of the mansion, waiting for his return, but when he did come back, Ms. Skunk-hair had been waiting for him. Fixed on getting him alone, she'd chosen to remain hidden until a more appropriate time arrived but she missed the best one three hours ago after he'd left the bathroom. He had been **alone** in front of the TV and she had gone to grab some snacks from the kitchen as a way of doing something nice for him. However, by the time she'd returned to the living room, Xander had left and only the two tramps along with the Cajun were left watching TV. That had left her in something of a sour mood and for the past two hours she'd tried to track down the golden-eyed kid in the hopes of finding him alone once more. It had taken her longer than she would have liked but eventually she found him and now was the time to make a move on him before one of the other bitches did. Stepping out of the shadows like she owned the place she fixed the young man before her with her best 'you are **so** beneath me' gaze. It took him less than three seconds to notice her but for some reason her efforts to look every bit as badass as she believed herself to be didn't affect him in the least.

_Just what I'd expect from __**my**__ man. _She thought with a mental smile of approval.

It was one of the things she'd come to like about him since he'd walked in on her wondering what to do about an unconscious Joseph. From the moment she'd first laid eyes on him to the moment that she'd managed to excuse herself from the room, he hadn't batted an eyelid at her or shown any discomfort where her appearance was concerned. Since the day she'd been born, she'd been so used to upworlders looking at her like she was some kind of freak, some kind of monster, and so she had come to expect that look from everyone she met. The only people who treated her with any genuine respect had been her fellow Morlocks, who were just as ugly and inhuman as she was when compared to the pretty-pretty upworlders. When Xander looked at her, though, there was none of the discomfort or revulsion she had come to expect and, for a time, this confused her. It didn't make sense that he wouldn't do so as well and it had been the source of more than a few headaches trying to figure dragon-boy out. It hadn't been until her mind had been attacked by that bastard Shadow King that she'd heard the words her heart had been longing to hear for as long as she could remember.

_The Sarah I see in your eyes isn't ugly at all._

It had been that one sentence that had caused her to rethink everything about Xander from the first moment she arrived at the mansion to the present. He didn't think she was ugly. Did that mean that he thought she was…pretty? All the way through tending to the sick people at the Windrider's she pondered the question from beginning to end and all she could come up with in terms of an answer was that it **was** possible. With that in mind, she made the choice and, when the opportunity presented itself, she dropped a hint to dragon-boy about her intentions. She had definitely been pleased when she'd been walking away that she saw a hint of disorientation and diminished balance in Xander thanks to her kiss. It had been her first kiss ever with a guy her own age and, if the effects were any indication, she was a **natural** at it.

From then on she'd made it her mission to claim Xander as her own and, if Callisto's words weeks ago were any hint, her surrogate mother would support such a claim. All she had to do was make Xander more amiable to that way of thinking and she could finally have the joy she'd thought she'd never have because of her mutation. Even though she had tried to make several other moves on him, her efforts had been thwarted right before they would have had maximum effect. Whether it was a person walking into the room just as she was about to make her final move or Xander remembering that he had something important he had to do. She'd questioned him a few times about what could be more important than 'hanging out with a friend' and had mentally suspected him of trying to avoid being alone with her. These suspicions had proven to be false however as the reasons he gave each time were perfectly understandable, even though she seriously wished they hadn't been. Her frustration had only been made worse when three of those whores had taken **her** Xander out on a shopping trip. She'd worked herself into such a rage that she'd left the mansion for the Morlock tunnels looking for some upworlder sewer workers to terrorize.

Scaring upworlders always improved her mood.

However when she'd found a bunch of weirdly dressed upworlders with bits of metal sticking out of their noses, terrorizing them hadn't been as sweet as it'd been before. Oh there was the occasional moment when a look of fear in their eyes brought a smile or her face but the feeling had been muted like a sound heard through a thick wall. In the end she had walked back to the mansion only slightly appeased and so she had chosen to just go right to bed rather than try to resume her pursuit of **her** Xander. When she'd woken up the next day she decided that the best thing to do was make up for lost time by planning out her efforts rather than waiting for chance to help her win. She would think up a strategy that would leave nothing to chance, nor any opening for those **other** women to get in her way. In the end she knew that this would be the best way to approach him and get the ball rolling towards claiming his heart as her own sovereign territory. She would claim that it was her intention to get some sparring practice in and thought he's be 'adequate' as her opponent. Then, once he was all revved up by the fight, she'd make her move and kiss him once again but this time she'd make sure things went **much** further than they had last time.

_You're all __**mine**__ Xander!_ She thought as Xander turned to face her, _You just don't know it yet._

&

_**The Makeshift 'Danger Room', Thirty Minutes Later, Xander's P.O.V**_

"You're pretty good at…ungh…this!" Xander said as he blocked a kick from Marrow before going for a leg sweep.

"Better than you, dragon-boy!" Marrow fired back as she easily evaded the sweep, "Us Morlocks learned a long time ago that you either learn to survive quickly or you don't survive at all."

"Pretty harsh way to live." Xander said charged forward looking like he intended to tackle her to the ground.

_Not something I'd be opposed to but I want to drag things out a bit more._ She thought as she leapt over him as he pushed off the ground to tackle her.

"Harshness is life. You learn to deal with it sooner or later." She said as she landed and decided to take things a step further as she withdrew two bone daggers from her back, "It's also a lesson it looks like I'll have to teach you if this is the most effort you can put into a fight. Get ready to see what your intestines look like!"

_Well this is a twist I didn't see coming. NOT!_ He thought as he bumped his caution level up another notch.

Being extra careful of the bone blades, he did his best to snake past her guard in order to score some blows. However while there was no real form or style to her movements that he could see it was clear that Marrow knew how to use the weapons in her hands. The Morlock had skill born not of official teaching but from first hand experience fighting for her life against all the things that the tunnels threw at her. In a way it was much like what he'd been forced to learn when he'd first decided to fight by Buffy's side back in Sunnydale. Fighting hadn't been his strong suit and that had been against normal people. When the time came to fight vampires and demons, he'd had two choices: either learn to fight them or stay on the sidelines. He could have gone to Giles but the Watcher was often so busy training Buffy or dealing with the latest Hellmouth threat that spare time was sporadic in coming. There was no way **IN HELL** that he was going to ask Deadboy to teach him how to fight so all that was left was for him to learn through trial and error. It had been a painful experience that had been made somewhat easier thanks to his soldier possession but he still had a ways to go before he could consider himself a skilled fighter.

_It's one of the reasons I actually agree to sparring sessions with Cal' as often as I do._ He thought before skirting backwards to avoid a horizontal slash, _I might wind up a bit sore at the end but as the saying goes, 'no pain, no gain'._

Back and forth they went to the point where he completely lost track of time. It got to the point where his entire focus was on the fight to the exclusion of all else whether it be the passage of time or his growing hunger. For him it was almost like they were doing a choreographed fight scene the way their moves seemed to echo off of one another before beginning it all anew. There was a part of him that was loving this dance they were doing and he decided that unless something happened to mess up the schedule, he'd spar with Marrow in order to get rid of the excess energy in the morning. After all, with the action this intense there was no real time to think about anything other than the next move. While he didn't know it at the moment he'd later remark that it required him to be so focused that he didn't have time to even notice how nice Sarah looked fighting. There was a primal beauty to her that most people didn't take the time to see although that is usually because they're **a LITTLE** focused on keeping their insides on the inside. Although he'd never admit it out loud, the remnants of the Hyena in him were definitely putting Marrow on the top of the list of potential mates.

He had no comment on **that** particular issue.

Feeling that the time had come to end the fight, he moved in towards her faster than he'd ever gone before and used a zig-zag pattern to make countering it difficult. When he felt the time was right, he dove right at her, under a swing from her bone blades and succeeded in tackling her to the ground.

At least at first he was successful.

However this must have been a move that Marrow had been on the receiving end of before because no sooner did they land on the ground then the Morlock girl rolled with the momentum so that she was the one who wound up on top. Looking up at her she looked like a tigress that had finally cornered its prey and was ready to partake of the rewards of victory. It was the look in her eyes that told him what she wanted for a reward and he actually found himself to not entirely be against the idea. It was true that there was a part of him that didn't think it proper to move to such an intimate stage in a relationship but that part had somehow been regulated to a nagging pull on his sleeve. Sadly a nagging sleeve pull has never been enough to deter him from something in the past and with his system pumping like it was it'd take the equivalent of a two by four to the side of the head to bring him to his senses.

The booming thunder that rolled throughout the room did it quite nicely.

As one, both he and Marrow looked towards the door to the Danger Room and saw that someone had walked in on their little sparring session. Looking very much like the uptight teacher who has caught someone on her 'troublemaker' list up to their waist in it, Storm was **not** wearing a look that inspired the warm fuzzies.

"I believe that is quite enough, Marrow." Ororo said, making it clear that her thoughts were a bit more harsh than her words.

_This is not going to turn out well._ He thought, knowing all too well that bad blood existed between the Morlock and the Windrider.

&

_**The Hallway Leading to the Makeshift Danger Room, One Minute Earlier**_

_**Point of View of Ororo Munroe**_

_I know not how but I __**know**__ Xander is down here._ Ororo thought as she followed the directions her instincts were giving her.

It was an odd feeling for her and when, she tried to make sense of why she felt an… attraction to young Alexander, her mind was at a loss to come up with a satisfactory answer. There was a… nobility about him that she admired and he often acted very much as the knight he appeared to be when he donned his armor. Yet, at the same time, he did his best to keep their spirits high when the weight of their duties dragged them down. In a way she thought him to be much like Wolverine in that he was the heart, the honor that reminded them of what they fought for as well as against. She shook her head at the disorganized answer her mind had produced in order to satisfy her question and decided that in the end the answer was something so primal that rational thought could not define it. In the end, all that mattered was her original purpose for seeking the young man out. It was her intent to finally see to the task of cleaning out the broken debris that lay in her greenhouse and attempt to restore it to its former state, but she would need assistance and thought that if Xander aided her, it would be a chance for her to identify what it was about him that attracted her while at the same time bond with him as a teammate. There were others she could have asked, like Doctor Reyes, but the woman had made it clear that it was her desire to resume her career as a surgeon rather then become an X-Man. Deathbird, while less volatile than before, was still thoroughly in her own world wherein she was a goddess compared to anyone who had been born on Earth. Indeed, the only person in the mansion whom the Shi'ar woman showed even the slightest bit of respect to was Xander. As for the more senior X-Men, she knew that they had their own personal projects in motion since all of them had lost something when Bastion had ransacked their home during Operation Zero Tolerance.

_That monster took a great deal from us but in the end they were but material things._ She thought as muffled sounds reached her ears, _In the end we still possess our memories and that is something far more precious._

As she moved further down the hallway towards the crude Danger Room, she began to identify the sounds she had been hearing as the sounds of a battle. Worried that somehow an enemy might have made it into the mansion, she ran for the battlefield in order to assess the situation before attempting to summon the rest of the X-Men. What she saw when she arrived was certainly not what she expected to find. Instead of the presence of an enemy, she found Xander and Marrow locked in battle with both wearing looks of feral determination on their faces. Both had drawn blood from the other but from what she could tell, neither had received anything more serious than superficial lacerations from the other. While there was little grace in their movements as one might expect from a martial arts sparring match, there was a primal appeal to it that gave it a beauty all it's own. However, as she watched Xander succeed in tackling Marrow to the ground, she saw the battle come to an unexpected close. Instead of the golden-eyed young man claiming victory, Marrow succeeded in using the momentum of her adversary to her advantage to land on top.

In that moment though, when she sees the Morlock straddling Xander, a new feeling entered her mind that caused her to narrow her eyes at the sight before her. She found herself **offended** at the look of lust that glows within Marrow's eyes as the tunnel dweller gazed down at her pinned prey. Worry also made itself known but to a degree that most would find too much to attribute to a situation involving a newly made friend. It felt more akin to how she felt towards Forge during those moments when his fate was not known to her. Her mind rebelled at such a comparison but, at the same time, the level of worry she felt was of a similar strength level. It was only as she saw Marrow begin to lower her head towards Xander's that she decided the time had come to put an end to the scene before her rather than watch it get any worse. Calling upon her mastery of the elements, she caused a thunderous cascade of sound to echo throughout the makeshift Danger Room.

"I believe that is quite enough, Marrow." She said, making it clear with words that the young Morlock would be wise to retreat to a more…neutral position.

While the bone-wielding mutant did indeed get off of Xander, the look on Marrow's face made it clear she did not appreciate the interruption. Looking down at Xander, she could see that at least he had the grace to look a tad embarrassed by how things had looked between him and Marrow. He needed not worry, though, because if her judge of character was as good as she believed it to be, then she knew that he bore no responsibility for what transpired. Both from her discussions with Beast and from her own firsthand experience, she knew that young Alexander often engaged in sparring sessions with other residents of the mansion. Add to that the fact that the young man with the powers of a dragon seemed to possess more energy than was the norm for him and it was understandable that he would seek to rid himself of it. However, he was not doubt as surprised as she had been when the **Morlock** chose to take advantage of his temporary immobility to sate her own urges.

Yet another reason why Marrow did not belong at the mansion amongst the others.

"What do **you** want, Windrider?" Marrow all but growled at her with bone blades still in hand.

"My business is with Xander, **not** with you." She replied, making it clear that she would not be elaborating, "It is a private matter so I suggest you find something else **somewhere** else to amuse yourself with."

"Looks like ya need your eyes cleaned, Storm, 'cause last I checked, I wasn't your faithful servant!" Marrow snapped back defiantly with body language that made it clear she would not be moved, "So you'd best be ready to make this 'private matter' public or there's the door!"

"Have you forgotten that you are a **guest** in this house, Marrow?" she asked with a sub-zero tone of voice, "You are here because Robert thought you might be able to improve yourself here. It is a stance that your surrogate mother, **Callisto,** agreed with and supported. Do **not** think for one moment that this gives you as much claim to this house as anyone else."

"Heh. It's about time you finally got honest, Windrider." Marrow said with a sarcastic tone, "You and your X-Men buddies go on and on about wanting to promote equality and peaceful co-existance between mutants and humans yet here you are dictating terms to me like some second class citizen. Besides, I'd say I passed being a guest after my fourth week here Storm."

The child was **infuriating**! Marrow twisted her words at every opportunity to place herself in the right no matter how **wrong** the Morlock truly was in her position. While it was true that it had been many weeks since Sarah had first set foot in the mansion, it was the right of the senior mansion residents to determine what her **status** was. After all, if time translated into how many shares of the house a resident possessed, then the senior X-Men had the newcomers completely outmatched. Xander at least understood that and did all he could to contribute to the restoration of the mansion or the helping of others. Marrow, on the other hand, did little, if anything, to contribute to the repair of the mansion, much less help anyone other than herself out. Indeed it seemed as though the only time when Marrow saw fit to lend a hand was when there was an enemy to be fought and slain. It fit perfectly with the child's **barbaric** nature.

She could see Xander desired to intervene, to give them a fresh dose of insight, as he had after her volatile discussion with Sam Guthrie. That was another variable that put him in similar standing to Wolverine because Logan also had a way of delivering an insightful comment every so often. However the mere memory of the words Xander had spoken to her following her confrontation with Sam was enough to motivate her into reigning in her anger towards Marrow.

"Perhaps. Nevertheless that does not change the fact that the matter I wish to discuss with Xander is private." She said keeping her tone as polite as possible, "Therefore, if you will not leave the room then Xander and I shall. Come, Alexander."

However, as she turned to exit the room, she heard a feral growl that indicated that the **child** Marrow intended to protest further. With a barely restrained roll of her eyes, she began to turn towards the young Morlock to remind Sarah how things ended the last time the two of them fought one another. It was this half turn, though, that saved her life as, instead of receiving two bone blades in the back, she received only light lacerations to her back and a cut in the fabric of the front of her shirt. From the position of Marrow's arms and the look of complete shock on Xander's face, it took her not even half a second to determine exactly what had happened.

"So be it!" she said with a growl all her own as the wind picked up around her and her eyes glowed with the strength of her mutant powers.

&

_**One Minute and One **__**BIG**__** Hole in the Ceiling of the Danger Room Later**_

_**Xander's P.O.V**_

_Why do I get the feeling it's going to be __**me**__ fixing the hole all by my lonesome?_ Xander thought as she looked up to where Storm's lightning bolts had blasted a hole through the ceiling of the Danger Room.

What had started as a simple sparring session between him and Marrow had now degenerated into the superpowered equivalent of a catfight. He had known from the moment that Ororo had shown up that things were going to get tense between the Windrider and Marrow. While he still wasn't in possession of all the facts, he knew enough about the bad blood between the two women that any meetings the two had would be volatile ones. He had tried to step in and cool the two of them down but he wasn't given enough time to before the two mutant ladies began to go at it like a pair of lionesses. From there things had gotten so bad that trying to talk the two down ceased to be an option, if only because of the sheer noise caused by the fight. By the time that the noise had gone down to a level where speech was again a viable option, the dangerous duo had already taken the fight upstairs. After a moment of debating about whether or not to leap up through the hole or take the stairs, he decided that the stairs would be the safest option. By the time he reached the higher levels, most of the other X-Men in the building were already trying to pull Storm away from Marrow and put an end to the fight.

"Weather **bitch!**" Marrow growled as she used some of the heavier furniture present as cover while she continued to try and find a hole in Storm's defenses.

"Malicious **Morlock!**" Storm fired back using her lightning bolt to destroy couch after table after chair to get at her target.

Looking about the immediate area he could see that because of the confined area, many of the X-Men with flight powers were pretty much grounded in light of the high velocity winds being wielded by Ororo. Those that had projectile based powers were likewise neutralized since the wind prevented them from maintaining a steady aim at their respective targets. That left only those that had more tactile based powers and they were forced to claw for every inch as they tried to get close enough to Storm to restrain her. Seeing the scene before him, he tried to figure out how things had gotten like this because this was definitely not the Storm he knew and definitely not…well…it kinda was but wasn't the Marrow he knew. The Morlock girl always had the aggressive thing going on but she rarely lashed out like a berserker unless someone really went over the line with her. Thinking back to the minutes leading up to the start of the brawl, the only factor he could think of that could have led to things getting out of hand was the Xan-man. Storm had wanted to talk to him in private and Marrow had resisted by antagonizing Ororo worse than usual. The weather manipulating mutant had pushed back and, from there on, everything went pear shaped between the two, leading to the throw down that was happening right now. When he tried to think of a reason why the two would be fighting each other with him as the only common factor his mind came up with a possibility that just wasn't possible.

They both had feelings for him and were fighting over him.

That didn't make sense on Storm's side of things because she was the mother figure in the house and she was a good couple years older than him. While there was that little stunt at the mall while they were shopping, he was pretty certain that was just a bit of harmless fun on their part. Betsy had probably just nagged the Windrider until the lady caved in and joined the 'let us make Xander pass out due to overwhelming blood flow south' plan. He really didn't see it going further than that on Ororo's part, so the whole idea of her suddenly crushing on him or something just wasn't a possibility. Marrow, on the other hand, was a bit more of a possibility in the crush area on account of how he'd helped her out against the Shadow King and the kiss she had given him after that fight. After that… well, she had made a couple more attempts to cozy up to him but something had always gotten in the way whether it was his job or one of the other X-Men entering at exactly the wrong time. As for how he felt about her… well he wasn't so shallow that he couldn't see past her uncontrollable bone growths and, once you got past her Wolverine-wannabe attitude, she wasn't all that bad a person. Could it blossom into love? He honestly didn't have an answer to that question.

Only time would tell.

Right now, though, they had to get both ladies to calm down and stop demolishing the recently-replaced furniture. He had only one idea on that front that wouldn't lead to more damage being done to the mansion and, with a bit of hesitation, he tapped into Kung Lung's power just enough to do what needed to be done.

"RRRROOOOAAAAARRRRR!!" Enter the Dragon…

This got immediate results from both the fighters as well as those that were trying to put a stop to it, just like he'd hoped it would. Now he had to take advantage of the momentary lull in hostilities before the snarking started flying between Marrow and Storm again.

"Now, unless I miss my guess, you two were both born with a brain and the ability to talk things out rationally, so howsabout we all calm down **right NOW**." He said in his best no nonsense tone of voice that he hoped was close to how Bishop would do it, "'Cause I am not working overtime in Salem Center to replace all this furniture a **second** time!"

"Actually, Xander, I believe I might be of some assistance in that regard," Came a voice he hadn't heard in person for many weeks.

Turning around, he was just in time to see a portal close down and standing in front of it was the foremost sorcerer on the face of the planet.

Sorcerer Supreme Dr. Stephen Strange.

"First, though, I will need the aide of both you and Dr. McCoy in order to verify certain facts." Dr. Strange said politely although there was a flicker of discomfort in his eyes.

&

_**Three Hours Later, The Hastily Repaired Living Room, Xander's P.O.V**_

"Okay, doc, you poked, prodded and introduced me to just about every kind of needle ever invented." Xander said with only a trace of snark in his voice, "Care to tell me what you think is going on here?"

"Well, after you called me a few days ago, I began to look into what I had on the Dragon Kings of old and any close relations they might have." Dr. Strange replied, immediately slipping into a doctor/professor way of talking, "Suffice it to say that, given the ancient nature of the Dragon Kings, there was precious little information to be had about them. I tried consulting a few of the beings that were around when Kung Lung was alive but they were reluctant to give me any **useful** answers. Therefore I had to focus on those species of dragon with connections to the five Dragon Kings."

"What do you mean by connections?" Bishop inquired, sounding like he had **no** sense of humor.

"Well, as is the case with the various pantheons of gods, there were some instances of the Dragon Kings mating with other breeds of dragon whether they be mortal or immortal in nature. As a result hybrids were creating and, while the bloodline has thinned considerably since then, it has not vanished entirely." Dr. Strange replied before resuming his lecture, "Using all the examples of this crossbreeding that I could locate, I began to examine each one in detail in an effort to explain Xander's sudden rise in energy and olfactory sensitivity. When I finished yesterday, I could find only one situation that had similar symptoms and have spent every hour since then confirming what was said as best I could."

"If you confirmed what it was from your books then why did you and McCoy treat me like a pin cushion down in the infirmary?" he asked, not liking being poked full of holes by needles one little bit.

"I wanted scientific evidence to back up my hypothesis before I let you know." Stephen replied with a somewhat uncomfortable tone of voice, "While in terms of recorded facts my theory was sound, I wanted to be absolutely certain, considering the potential…ramifications it might have for you."

"Quit dancing around the issue and just tell us what the **damn** theory is, Doc!" he said with quite a bit of annoyance.

"Very well, Xander. Based on the information we have been able to assemble and the results of the tests Dr. McCoy and I performed, we have come to one inescapable conclusion." Dr. Strange said as though one more word from him would set off a nuke, "It would appear that, along with Kung Lung's powers, you have also inherited certain biological functions of a Dragon King. To be specific, you've inherited their mating cycle."

"WHAT!?"

"Much like the less evolved reptiles and lizards on this world, the dragons with the strongest ties with the Dragon Kings of old had periods in their life when they were… most susceptible to the mating urge. How long these mating urges lasted or how much time there was between these mating periods is unclear." Dr. Strange replied, doing his best to keep his tone professional, "However the increase in energy, the enhanced sense of smell and other symptoms all match what I was able to determine from consulting my library. However, it wasn't until Dr. McCoy and I completed our tests in the infirmary that we were able to confirm my theory beyond a reasonable doubt."

At this point Stephen turned to Beast as if to say 'you take it from here', to which Beast's expression implied 'do I have to?' Seeing this, Xander was not exactly looking forward to the next bombshell these two had to drop.

"Indeed. Well using modern medical methods and various bits of technological tactics made possible by the equipment provided by Excalibur, we analyzed your blood as well as other bodily fluids." Beast said halfheartedly, trying to think up a way to pass the ball back to Stephen before the timer on the next bomb hit zero, "While I had little to compare the samples to, Stephen's expertise both as a doctor as well as a sorcerer helped bridge the gap between the two disciplines. In the end we were able to confirm that you had indeed entered a sort of mating period to our joint satisfaction. In fact it only took an hour and a half to do so."

"Then why did you keep poking me for another hour and a half?"

"The other half was to confirm a specific detail of the mating cycle that we wish to be sure of. Once we confirmed this detail, we spent most of our time trying to conceive of a… neutral way to deal with the problem that came with that detail." McCoy said while covertly looking at the various exits and calculating some sort of odds, "Sadly, none of the methods we were able to come up with were viable once the exact nature of this detail was laid out in front of us."

"**What** is **the** detail?"

"Well, it would seem, Xander, that part of the mating period you've inherited is the emitting of potent pheromones into the air in order to attract females. These pheromones are much like those emitted by other members of the animal kingdom, albeit yours are significantly more potent." McCoy replied, making it clear he didn't want to be the proverbial messenger that got shot for delivering the news, "As such, when a female inhaled these pheromones it influence their body chemistry and behavior to likewise put them in the proper state for mating. According to Dr. Strange's repository of knowledge, the pheromones were cumulative in nature in that the degree to which the females are affected is dependant on the amount of exposure to the pheromones. In short, the more time the ladies spend with you, the more likely they are to want to jump your bones, as it were."

"B-but that's nuts! If that was the case then I'd have half the women in Salem Center beating down my door!"

"We considered that possibility and the only answer we could come up with is that the pheromones are specifically keyed to females of a 'more than human' nature. Theoretically they could work on just about any member of the superheroine community, so long as they had no defense against them." McCoy said as his tact filter stalled for a moment, causing him to say something that would **NOT** help the situation.

"NOT making things any better, Hank!"

"Yes. Quite. In any case, I believe that it is these pheromones that are responsible for the various ladies of the X-mansion exhibiting such a 'friendly' demeanor towards you." Hank said as he tried to get his explanation back on track, "Fortunately, in the cases of both Jubilee and Jean, their exposure was so low that the most effect it might have on them would be a few naughty dreams and itches that need to be dealt with."

"Great! I finally start thinking that maybe I **don't** have girl repellant on me and now you say that the only reason the ladies here are looking in my direction is because they're hopped up on Xander-mones!"

"I wouldn't say that. As it is, neither Stephen nor myself know precisely to what degree these pheromones have affected the X-Ladies." McCoy said in an effort to soothe the lad's bruised ego, "In fact it is perfectly possible that those with the strongest reactions to your pheromones had pre-existing feelings of affection towards you that were merely enhanced by the airborne chemicals."

This statement was met by a round of person-to-person looks by various members of the X-Men as they tried to figure out who among the X-Women had exhibited the strongest feelings towards Xander. Needless to say just about all of the women were uncomfortable with the attention that was being sent their way. Deciding that the best course of action would be to get everything over with sooner rather than later, he turned back to the two doctors.

"Okay, so now we know what the problem is. Now when does it end? You two have to have some idea when this whole mating period is due to end, right? Spit it out and I'll find someplace else to be until I stop puffing out the love hormones."

"Based on my knowledge of the dragon hybrids and the tests we performed earlier, we believe that within a week your mating cycle will be over." Stephen replied, apparently taking pity on Hank's predicament, "However I am afraid that there are certain…side-effects that need to be addressed before then."

"What sort of side-effects?" he asked warily, as though he knew that the punch line was now heading his way.

"Well, while you will return to normal by weeks end, I am afraid the ladies will have some rather unpleasant side-effects of their own to deal with. You see, the pheromones are in their systems now and are boosting some chemicals while impairing the production of others. Anything and everything the body produces when sexually aroused or when a person is romantically attracted to another has been increased significantly." Stephan replied with his fingers itching to perform a spell to teleport to safety, "While your body will correct itself fairly quickly, their bodies will have a somewhat rougher time returning to their normal operational levels."

"Define rougher." Bishop commanded, no doubt thinking out how this could effect team performance in the field.

"While again this is only speculation on my part, I would liken the side-effects the women will experience as being similar to alcoholic or narcotic withdrawal symptoms. Fortunately, unlike these forms of withdrawal, recovery from the pheromones should take no more than two to two and a half weeks at the most." Dr. Strange explained trying to make the situation sound less serious that it obviously was, "Also from what Hank and I have been able to determine by analyzing these pheromones, there is no danger of serious physical or psychological harm befalling the ladies. They will simply be required to endure the unpleasant withdrawal symptoms until their bodies successfully correct the imbalance."

"Isn't dere a way to fix 'em up a bit quicker, doc?" Gambit asked, sounding like he'd just imagined what living with six powerful mutants suffering from withdrawal symptoms would be like.

"There is **one** way that we have been able to determine, however it is something we would advise the ladies to think long and hard about before pursuing." Hank replied covertly inching his way towards the exit/entrance to the living room, "As Stephen hypothesized after we confirmed the existence of the pheromones, Xander's body does indeed produce a counter agent to the pheromones. Once introduced into the systems of the lovely ladies present here it should return them to normal in a matter of hours."

"So what's the problem? Suck a couple of needles full of this counter agent and get their heads working right again." He asked not liking why the two eggheads hadn't already gotten the ball rolling on this solution.

"Well…that's the issue we are somewhat uncomfortable about sharing." Stephen replied, looking like he'd rather be facing his deadliest foe right about then, "Apparently the counter agent has a rather short lifespan outside of your body Xander. During our examination, we did try to extract a sample of the compound but it turned to vapor within seconds of leaving your body. We then attempted to introduce it to a sample of the pheromones your body is emitting in the hopes that as a fellow inhalant it would still be effective.

"However, while the vapor form of the counter agent did have some effect on the pheromones, it was transitory at best." Stephen explained, not wanting his colleague in this situation to bear the burden of bad news alone, "It is very much like the diluted form of the Dragon's Bane poison I provide you with, in that there is enough of it there to have an effect but not enough to kill you. It was this problem that we spent an hour straight attempting to overcome but, sadly, we met with little success. In the end I am afraid that this counter agent will have to be administered the old fashioned way."

"Old fashioned way?" he asked not liking the images that his mind was coming up with after considering those words.

"I am afraid that, based on the collective knowledge we have assembled, the only manner in which the counter agent can be introduced into the systems of the ladies is through…ahem…intimate sexual contact with you." Hank replied, knowing that there was likely five seconds before an explosion of disbelief from everyone, "To put it in laymens terms, you will have to seriously make out with them at the very least and most likely need to make love to them in order to introduce the counter agent into their systems."

"Oh." Was all he could come up with in response to that bit of news.

Anything else that might have been said he pretty much missed due to the slight case of fainting with all the subtlety of a dropped anvil.

&

_**The Kitchen, Thirty Minutes Later, P.O.V of Cecilia Reyes **_

"Well ladies, what do think of this fucked up situation?" Cecila asked herself as she downed the last of her wine.

She had wanted to go for something a bit stronger but considering the…situation, she thought it best to keep a clear head instead. After all, when a lady had to choose between fucking a eighteen or nineteen year old guy in order to get pheromones out of her system that came from the same guy, it wasn't something to do while drunk. After Bishop had carried Xander up to his room, all six of the affected women had relocated to the kitchen in order to get a handle on what was to come. From a medical standpoint, she wanted to go down to the infirmary to go over the findings of the two doctors to make sure that they were accurate. Not that she thought they were a couple of hacks or anything, she just wanted to make absolutely sure that there wasn't something they were overlooking. While Xander wasn't ugly by any means, he was barely of legal age and she wasn't all that fond of one-night stands. Not that she had much time for dates anyways, given how busy she was working at Our Mother of Mercy Hospital, but she wasn't the type to engage in idle flings. Plus there was the fact that this was all the result of pheromones messing with their minds and their bodies to make jumping the boy's bones more appealing.

As a doctor she did not hold the young man responsible for what had happened since, to her knowledge, pheromone production was not something that could be controlled. It was a natural biological function of whatever Xander was that he had no real control over. Also, given how the young man had fainted dead away, he was either the world's greatest actor or he had truly been unaware that he was entering his mating period or that he had one to begin with. Given those two facts, she couldn't exactly hold him responsible but that still left her and the rest of the ladies with a choice to make. They could take option one and refuse to take the counter agent and endure the withdrawal symptoms that would emerge as a result of their elevated or decreased chemical levels. Or they could go with option number two and have a fling with Xander and be back to normal within twenty-four to forty-eight hours.

_Neither option is something I'd call great._ She thought as she looked at the others who were doing some thinking of their own_, I've seen what withdrawal does to both drug addicts and alcoholics. It's never a pretty sight and not something I'd like to experience. On the other hand, making love to anyone other than the man I intend to marry isn't all that appealing either._

In the end she decided to wait to see how the others would choose before making her own choice.

"While I cannot say that this situation is to my liking, it would seem that we must each endeavor to choose the lesser of the two evils." Storm said, sounding pretty conflicted voice-wise, "As the field commander of the X-Men, though, I would be endangering the team and the mission were I to attempt to endure the withdrawal symptoms described by Dr. Strange. While normally, in situations such as this, command would be passed to the next in the chain of command, Logan is away and did not leave a means of contacting him. Thus I see no alternative but to choose the more expedient means of curing my condition."

"Jeez, Storm! You're acting like someone said you had to destroy a historical monument." Betsy said, clearly no understanding her comrade's displeasure at the choice, "Look. Xander knows that this is something beyond anyone's control and he knows what we do for a living. He'll understand that we can't go two weeks acting like an addict looking for their next fix. Besides, he's good looking, has a toned body and, if my hunch is right, he's definitely packing a woman pleaser in those pants of his!"

"Well ya'll have to tell me about it after, Betsy, 'cause I don't have the same choice the rest of y'all have." Rogue said, sounding seriously bummed that her mutant powers were once again limiting the choices she had, "Seein' as how I can't touch anyone without drainin' 'em dry, it looks like I'll be the one roughin' it out for the next two weeks."

It was genuinely a sad thing that Rogue was forced to go down what was most likely the more unpleasant of the two roads available at the moment. During her time at the mansion and discussing all things medical with Hank, she had come to have a good understanding of the powers each of them possessed. She knew all too well that Rogue's inability to control her tactile absorption powers had left the girl feeling immensely isolated from the rest of society. While she could still hug people and other similar actions, the southern woman always had to make sure there was a layer of fabric between her and the person she was hugging. Even the slightest bit of contact between her skin and that of another living thing triggered the absorption process. It poured into the woman the memories and personality traits of the person before incorporating it into the young woman's mind. Physical changes, fortunately, were a little better in that they tended to fade fairly quickly and required prolonged contact with the other person in order to make the changes permanent. Considering how tactile natured humans generally were, it must be like a slow form of torture for the young woman to go through life so isolated.

"Hmph. I do not understand the difficulty in the choice." Deathbird said with her usual imperial tone, "Only a fool or one without a choice in the matter would willingly subject themselves to needless suffering when a more favorable solution was available. In the Shi'ar Imperium, it was my **right** as Regent to use my servants as I saw fit. This will be no different."

"Except for the part where we aren't in the Shi'ar Imperium and Xander isn't one of your servents," Betsy pointed out with a playful smile.

"The differences are irrelevant! What matters is that I neutralize these **pheromones** as swiftly as possible." Deathbird said dismissively towards Betsy, "Besides, the boy is an **adequate** sparring partner, so this will be a solution for myself and a generous **gift** for him."

This caused just about everyone, including herself, to look towards Marrow, who looked like she'd gut the first person who tried to ask her what her choice was. Fortunately for everyone present, their stares proved to be enough to cause her resistance to fail as proven by the snort of contempt she employed.

"At least I'm the same age as him, unlike you five old hags!" Marrow said crossing her arms in front of her chest, "Besides, Xander probably likes it rough and that's exactly how I plan on giving it to him."

With five of the six women decided the final choice was hers and while hearing the others state their reasons for going with the sex option had made things easier, she still needed to think for a moment. It was true that everyone who had been present knew that this was not of their choosing and that none of them expected any strings to be attached after the sex was done. While her thoughts might be somewhat impaired by the pheromones, she could safely say that Xander would not entertain any thoughts of a relationship with any of them just on the basis of one night of sex. The young man was just too much of a white knight to think something like that. In the end she decided that while she'd kill anyone who talked about this outside of the mansion there really was only one choice as far as she was concerned.

"I guess this means that Xander's going to get lucky five times straight over the next couple of days." She said, making her choice known to the rest of them, "The big question we gotta ask ourselves now is: who's first?"

&

Note: Now I am sure a few of you are wondering why I chose to end things here since I am positive some of you were hoping to get to the good stuff all at once. I have decided that for the scenes to come involving the X-Women that they will be split into individual chapters rather than lumped together into one or two chapters. This will allow each of them to be read on their own individual merits rather than as part of one or two groups and thus be better.

Also I have decided that I will produce two versions of each chapter involving an X-woman. One version will be the version that will adhere to the more conservative content regulations that all who post on the site supposedly must adhere to or face repercussions. The second version will be the Twisting the Hellmouth version and will carry a FR21 rating with warnings at the beginning indicating adult content ahead. Therefore, based on your own tastes, choose which version you would like to read. If you prefer to read the first version then look to my posting of 'Black Wing' on to see how things go. If however you'd prefer the second option then naturally proceed to and read the posted chapters of 'Black Wing' there.

PS-For those of you disappointed at my decision to exclude Rogue from the nookie option, I am afraid I don't have much of a choice. While not exactly as they were, Rogue and Gambit are still on solid relationship ground with each other, so I don't want to trample on that. Plus unless you can conceive of a way for her and Xander to do the nasty but not have it stick around to help her relationship with Gambit, then that's pretty much that.


	20. Storm

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the copyrighted material contained herein

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the copyrighted material contained herein. They all belong to their respective creators and associated companies. I make no profit off of this whatsoever.

Note: If you want to read the uncensored version of this chapter then go to .

**ALERT! ADULT SITUATIONS INCOMING! ADULT CONTENT! ALERT!**

THE FOLLOWING CHAPTER CONTAINS SCENES OF NUDITY AND ADULT SEXUAL SITUATIONS. THIS CONTENT IS NOT APPROPRIATE FOR THOSE UNDER THE AGE OF 21. IF YOU ARE NOT THIS AGE OR OLDER THEN DO NOT CONTINUE ANY FURTHER. I REPEAT, THE FOLLOWING CHAPTER CONTAINS EXPLICIT NUDITY AND SEXUAL SITUATIONS. THIS IS NOT APPROPRIATE CONTENT FOR THOSE UNDER THE AGE OF 21. YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED.

**ALERT! ADULT SITUATIONS INCOMING! ADULT CONTENT! ALERT!**

&

_**Storm's Loft, X-Mansion Early Evening, Xander's P.O.V**_

_**( version)**_

_Well, this is a fine mess you've gotten yourself into, Xan!_ He thought to himself as he sat on Storm's bed in a boxer and t-shirt combo awaiting her return, _First you wind up the container for an evil dragon king, then you get run out of Sunnydale, then wind up going on a galactic adventure with the __**X-MEN**__ and now you have to screw five of them or else they'll start acting like druggies experiencing withdrawal! Just __**PERFECT!**_

Now some might think that even though the situation was not to his liking that he'd be a ball of pent up excitement at the prospect of having sex with five beautiful women. After all, there wasn't a single one of them that couldn't be world famous models if they chose to take on that particular profession. Bodies to die for and, after living with them for a couple of weeks, he could genuinely say that all of them were good people that made them good to be around. The thing that was ruining the entire moment was the fact that this entire scenario was more or less forced since the alternative to a Xander vaccine shot was two weeks of hell before recovering. They weren't doing this because they loved him or considered him handsome enough for a one night stand or anything comforting like that. Oh, he tried to keep his gaze on the silver lining and all that but, every time he thought about what was going to happen, he was smacked in the face again with the truth: this was more or less forced. Not so much that he was blackmailing them or anything but rather that their duties and obligations required that they not be hampered by withdrawal symptoms. Still, he was fairly certain that the ladies weren't any more enthusiastic about all this than he was so the best he could do was to try keep things loose and light mood-wise. Keep each of them from dwelling on what couldn't be changed and instead focus their attention on the light at the end of the tunnel. That was the best that he could hope for in this situation.

_On the plus side, at least Doc Strange cast that anti-pregnancy spell on the ladies._ He thought as he tried to find something in the room to distract himself with, _It's one thing to just help them get the hormones out of their system. It's quite another thing to risk getting five women pregnant._

Hearing the door to the loft's bathroom open up, he turned to face it and saw Ororo exiting wearing the top part of the pajamas she'd worn during the post mall movie marathon. Needless to say, the long chocolate legs that were on display were **fine** indeed and made him flash back to the swim party by the lake a couple of weeks back. However, as his lust rose, he shook the image, metaphorically speaking, from his mind since he couldn't let himself forget that this was just a business transaction of sorts. They'd…do it… and then he was gone. While he hated the fact that this was going to be another 'wham, bam and thank you Xan' situation like with Faith, he knew that this was the way it had to be. If he let himself get too caught up in it all, he'd become so emotionally invested in what happened that it'd mess with how he behaved around her later. He didn't want this one incident to tarnish the friendship he'd built up over the past few months with the Windrider. As she sat down on the bed next to him, he looked up to her and tried to convey with his eyes that he understood what this must mean to her.

"Alexander. Do not feel guilt over what was not in your power to prevent." Storm said as she placed a hand on his shoulder, "You could no more have prevented what has happened then I could prevent a drought I did not know of. Instead, let us attempt to turn this into a positive situation that we both may remember fondly rather than an experience we would rather forget."

"If you're su—" he began to say but before he could complete the sentence Ororo leaned towards him and placed her lips fiercely on his.

For several seconds they were like this and, as though his arm had taken on a life of its own, it soon followed the lead of the Windrider's by coming to rest on her shoulder. The kiss was… he was at a loss to describe how good it felt and it made him wonder why he'd been so reluctant earlier about going through all of this. Sure, the circumstances were questionable but Storm had pretty much given her consent and, unlike previously when under the influence of the pheromones, she was fully aware of what was going on. She could resist the pheromones and plunk herself in the same category as Rogue if she wanted to. Sure, there was the whole thing where she was the leader of the X-Men and couldn't be dishing out orders while undergoing withdrawal but still. Just the mere fact that she made the first move here and had implied that she wanted to remember this experience with fondness must have meant that she wants this to be **pleasurable**. So, while his nagging White Knight complex was persistently reminding him of the reality of it all, the rest of him said **let's get this party started**!

With that thought, he opened his mouth and let his tongue move outward in order to seek entry into Storm's mouth. Fortunately it seemed as though the weather witch had similar ideas because it took merely a single prod from his tongue to get her to open her mouth and reciprocate. As their tongues wrestled in their mouths, he let the hand that was not on the beautiful lady's should caress her exposed leg. Up and down his hand moved across her skin and, every time it came close to traveling beneath her pajama top, he could feel her passion spike. Her kiss would become hotter and her tongue more aggressive when it fought with his. Deciding to see how hot it would become he decided that while petting was nice it was time to kick things up a notch. Taking the plunge, as it were, his hand traveled up her leg and journeyed into the area that was hidden feeling his way to her shapely butt squeezing it slightly. THIS definitely sent Storm's passion up to the next level because with no preamble and without breaking the sexual kiss, she swung her leg over both of his before sitting down on his lap. With this new position came new opportunities so with both hands now free he grabbed a butt cheek and began to knead them like they were dough.

"Oooohhhh, Xander!" Ororo moaned as the pleasure within her went up causing her to break her kiss.

Looking into her eyes, he could see that her emotional control was still pretty much there but there was a flicker of heat in those eyes that told him **exactly** how she was feeling at the moment.

"I do believe that you have an unfair advantage over me, Xander." She said with a sexy smile on her face, "You have one more article of clothing on than I do. This simply will not do."

With that, she grabbed the bottom of his T-shirt and pulled it off of him almost before he could move to make sure she didn't wind up strangling him with it. With it gone, he watched her look at his upper body and, when her tongue came out to lick her lips with interest, he knew liked the condition his body was in. Not surprising, since even before he became the vessel for Kung Lung, slaying with the gang had put him in pretty good shape. Now with the Dragon King inside of him and the sparring sessions he had with Deathbird, he'd have to say that his body was in the best condition it was ever going to be in. Like the winds that were at her beck and call, Storm began to caress him while playfully teasing him with half kisses and brief moments of tongue. It was intoxicating for the both of them and, upon later reflection, he could safely say that his earlier concerns might as well have never existed as far as he was concerned. The two of them merely went with the passion of the moment and allowed it to direct their actions to where ever it wanted them to go. As Ororo's hands finished their empirical inspection of his upper body, she slid off his lap to the floor, clearly with the intent of seeing the area below the belt.

Once on her knees, she grabbed the waistband of his boxers and, with a little lifting on his part, got them off easily before tossing them into a corner of the room. With any concealment gone, everything below the waist was free for her to view in its entirety. Judging from the way that her eyes widened a bit from the unveiling and the hungry smile on her face, it was a good sign that she was pleased with what she saw.

"It would seem that Elizabeth wasn't wrong when she predicted the size of what you possessed." She said as her right hand reached up to grasp the focus of her attention, "Though I think I shall see if it is more than it appears to be or merely a mirage."

With those words, she moved forward and began to kiss it up and down before finally using her tongue to see if its taste was to her liking. He, of course, was barely able to keep his head working right amidst the pleasure her ministrations induced in him with every lick. That, of course, meant that when she took him into her mouth, all coherent thought was quickly rendered impossible as the sensations he felt quickly turned into an inferno. Placing his hands on her head, he did his best to restrain himself from controlling the tempo and duration of the motions of her head. She seemed to appreciate that and showed her thanks by using one new technique after another to stimulate him. She was definitely no amateur at this but, with the regalness that was Storm, he knew better than to think that she did this for just anyone. Only those who she deemed worthy got this treatment and to be judged worthy by this goddess was definitely a prize indeed. In the end, it got to be so good that it wasn't long before he could feel the pressure building and decided that it was best to let her decide where it went.

"'Ro! I-I'm about to--!" he managed to get out while what remained of his concentration was directed towards holding the pressure in check as best he could.

To this news she only increased the tempo and pressure she was placing on him and taking that as a sign he ceased his resistance and let nature take its course. With a tensing of the muscles, he felt it fly into her waiting mouth and groaned. When the pressure ebbed off along with the seed, he watched her continue to do what she'd been doing as though trying to prolong his sensations for as long as possible. Eventually she finished and sat back on her legs while he watched with arousal as she used her tongue to lick her lips in satisfaction. His mind was abuzz with the pleasure of what had just happened and he knew that not only was this an experience that he would **NEVER** forget but it was also not something he'd boast about. This was something private between him and Ororo that would not be shared with anyone else, no matter how honored he felt at the moment.

_But like all good things, it looks like it's come to an end._ He thought since he figured that that moment of happiness would have administered the counteragent effectively enough.

However, as he tries to get up, Storm immediately pushed him back into a sitting position on the bed and positions herself so that standing would not be easy. Looking up to her, he wondered what was going on. Surely, with all that she did, a sufficient amount of counteragent must have gotten in, so there was no real reason for this intimacy to continue. Sure, Doc Strange had said that it would take about twenty-four to forty-eight hours for the chemical imbalance within the affected X-ladies to be corrected, but that didn't explain this. As he knew from the beginning, this had just been a means to an end, a way for Storm to keep a level head so she could lead the X-Men, so once that obligation had been managed, there was no reason to continue.

"Just because the counteragent has been administered, Alexander, does not mean that this night has to end so soon." Ororo said as she slowly unbuttoned the pajama top in front of him, "After all, the night is young and I am nowhere near satisfied."

With those final words spoken, the last button was undone and, with a shrug of her shoulders, the top fell to the ground, displaying the Windrider in all her magnificence. Starting from the top and working his way down he saw that her chest was a mid-range D cup in terms of size and were quite firm indeed. Going further, he saw the stomach that was as toned as he remembered it from the day they'd been at the lake with the other X-Men. Then when his eyes passed below the beltline and saw that he wrong when he'd thought that she'd been wearing panties because, for this night, apparently she'd decided to go commando. A bit of surprise but at least both of them were completely naked now, so the only question left unanswered was: what now?

Considering that she'd been doing most of the work up until now he knew the answer to that question in a heartbeat.

&

_**The Next Morning, Kitchen, X-Mansion, Beast's P.O.V**_

_Well, if last night's tumultuous tempest was any indication, it would seem that dear Ororo had a most pleasurable time._ Hank thought as he read the morning newspaper while chomping on some toast, _However, as Storm is a dear friend, I shall permit my monumental mind to cogitate the matter no further. T.M.I, as Xander would say._

As he turned the page he watched as the fair regent Deathbird entered the kitchen wearing her usual sweat pants and T-shirt combo that she often wore in the morning. While his usual inclination in the morning his to greet his fellow morning people and inquire as to the success of their nightly snoozing, this time he held his tongue. Throughout the many encounters with the sister of Lilandra, one point had been made perfectly clear and that was that the woman had a volatile temperament. While most of the time she carried herself in an aloof manner consistent with someone who believed themselves to be superior to all others, she could become a vicious killer in an instant. Some of the others had attempted to extend the branch of friendship to her since she arrived at the mansion but each had been shot down with a violent verbal volley. Only young Xander seemed to be able to meet her on even ground and that fact apparently had earned the golden-eyed boy some respect from the Shi'ar regent. However, at the same time, it could simply be that Deathbird's physiology was such that the pheromones that Xander produced hit her harder than the rest of the ladies. The entire Dragon King mating process was still very much a conundrum to him but that had merely caused him to broker a deal with Dr. Strange, in which they would both pool their efforts to learn more. It was an interesting issue and while his expertise was more centered on the scientific it was clear that only through a cooperative effort with sorcery would the entire truth be learned.

Keeping his attention focused on the paper rather than the Shi'ar woman, he noticed that the webbed wall crawling wonder was experiencing quite the trouncing in the media. While an ally only on occasion, he took a moment to ponder if there was anything that could be done to aid the web slinger. Sadly, even with the shipment of equipment from the now disbanded Excalibur, there was little they could do to affect the situation in New York City. To obtain the information required to exonerate their web-swinging ally, they would have to engage covert operations designed to penetrate the security of several well-fortified corporate buildings. While this was not beyond their abilities, it would require time that past experience informed him was unlikely to be afforded to them. While not occurring at a predictable interval, trouble seemed to find the X-Men often enough that moments of leisure and relaxation were few in number. Still, the Web Head had endured many such problems as this in the past, so he was fairly confident that the wall crawler would survive this as well.

It was as he turned the next page that he saw a person enter the room in such a manner that he could not help but notice. Walking into the kitchen, clad in her usual pajamas, was one Ororo Munroe, looking very much like the person who made their proverbial cake and ate it too. A smile of contentment on her face, a slight bounce in her step and, unless his eyeballs were deceiving him, a slight wince when certain muscles below the waist were put under a bit of strain. For a moment he was again intrigued by this for it implied much about her interaction with Xander the previous night but, fortunately, his better judgment quickly clamped down on his imagination. Still, it was good to know that Storm had enjoyed herself and most likely obtained a needed release since, to his recollection, it had been at least a year since she had been involved with anyone.

_Fortunately for my poor cerebellum, it is unlikely to ever occur again._ He thought with some relief since the current situation involving Xander was uncomfortable enough.

It took Hank 'Beast' McCoy less than three seconds to realize he'd just jinxed himself.

Much like Xander had mentioned concerning certain phrases and the Hellmouth there were certain predictions that seasoned X-Men did their best to avoid thinking or speaking of.

Damn!


	21. Deathbird

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the copyrighted material contained herein

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the copyrighted material contained herein. They are the sole property of their creators and associated companies. I make no money off of this whatsoever.

**ALERT! ADULT CONTENT! NOT SUITABLE FOR THOSE UNDER 21! **

THE FOLLOWING CONTENT CONTAINS SCENES OF NUDITY, STRONG LANGUAGE AND SCENES OF A GRAPHIC SEXUAL NATURE. THIS IS NOT RECOMMENDED FOR THOSE 21 YEARS OF AGE OR YOUNG. I REPEAT, THE FOLLOWING CHAPTER IS OF AN ADULT NATURE AND NOT SUITABLE FOR THOSE 21 YEARS OF AGE OR YOUNGER. YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED.

**ALERT! ADULT CONTENT! NOT SUITABLE FOR THOSE UNDER 21! **

&

_**The Hallways of the X-Mansion, Evening**_

_**Xander's P.O.V**_

_**( version)**_

_Well this is one encounter that I'm not exactly looking forward to._ He thought as he headed for the library that Pyslocke and Cecilia had converted to a dojo.

It wasn't that he didn't like Cal' per se but more that she was afraid of just what her idea of foreplay and sex was. While he had read a little about Shi'ar culture and biology when he'd been with the others in the successful attempt to rescue the Imperium from the Phalanx but he hadn't had time to read everything. Therefore he wasn't sure just how **vigorous** their foreplay and sex was so he didn't know if it was something similar to the way humans did it. Personally he was leaning more towards the fact that it was since he very much doubted that the revered Charles Xavier would have been able to endure it if it were something too out of this world. After all while he had been one of the world's most powerful telepaths he was a paraplegic and so he'd be seriously hindered if he tried to do something too physical. That fact alone was enough to reassure him that whatever Deathbird thought up he'd be up to the challenge. He even had a theory about how she'd handle this situation and while he was probably going to be sore tomorrow he hoped it'd be more of the good sore than the bad sore.

Entering the library he saw Cal'Syee standing at the far side of the room waiting for him but at the moment he didn't want to think of what was about to happen just yet. So instead he gazed about the room trying to imagine what the place had looked like prior to Bastion stripping it clean of just about everything artificial. Considering the size of the Xavier estate and how bloody rich the man was he imagined that this room would have been filled with first edition literary works that would have had Giles drooling. There'd also probably be a few generic books that the other X-Men would enjoy reading and some pictures hanging on the wall. He imagined that it would have been a decent place to relax when you wanted to be alone or get some work done.

Now though it was stripped bare and only had a large used exercise mat on the floor, some sparring gear on the shelves and a cooler in the corner. Obviously Betsy had claimed the room for her martial arts exercises and would not relinquish it until they already had the stuff to restock the library. Seeing as how they didn't have access to Charlie's fortune and Warren 'Wings' Worthington was avoiding the mansion because of Gambit's presence the odds of that happening any time soon was slim.

Returning his gaze to Deathbird he could see that she was looking at him intently, as though nothing else mattered to her, and was clad in some kind of bodysuit. It covered just about everything except her arms, her neck and her feet with a dip in the front that displayed a tantalizing amount of cleavage. Unfortunately considering the universal constant that no woman liked guys who mistook their chest for their face when they were trying to have a conversation. Given how **volatile** Cal' was most of the time he was fairly certain that he didn't want to piss her off by looking at her the wrong way. Taking a deep breath he prepared himself for what was about to happen and while he was still not entirely happy with the position he'd put the ladies in he'd go with the flow. That flow of course would be dictated by Deathbird and while some might call that suicidal but he was confident he'd survive it.

He'd be sore as hell of course but he'd survive.

"It's about time you got here, Terran." She said in her usual snobby tone, "I sent word about the location thirty minutes ago. Where were you?"

"I figured I'd get into something a little more appropriate for the occasion." He replied as he approached her position.

"A waste of time! This is not a 'date' as you terrans call it." Cal declared with an edge in her tone, "This is a means to an end. A way to neutralize the **filth** you unknowingly introduced into my body. Nothing more."

_Oh yeah! She's in the mood._ He thought as he restrained the urge to either sigh or roll his eyes at his current predicament.

"Fine. Then let's get this over with." He said deciding that idle chit-chat wasn't going to be worth the effort this time around.

"My thoughts precisely." Cal' said and then before he could do more than blink she lunged at him with her talons pointing in his direction.

Surprised by this hostile act he was a second too slow in dodging the attack and that resulted in four slash-like holes in the front of his shirt. He tried to ask her what the **hell** she thought she was doing but her attack continued at an increasing rate of speed as well as ferocity. He didn't know what was going on in the bird lady's head but he did know that he wasn't going to get any straight answers until he convinced her to back off for a minute. So with moderate annoyance he began to fight back and used his right hand to transfer some extra momentum into one of Cal's slashes thus throwing her off balance. It also had the side effect of providing him with an opening which he took advantage of with a knee thrust aimed at her stomach. However she skillfully blocked the blow with her own knee before spinning and slamming the heel of her left foot into his face. Stumbling backwards a bit he forced his mind back into proper working order and it was a good thing that he did so because it allowed him to evade a follow up kick. Taking a sizeable leap backwards in order to gain some thinking room he decided that the best thing he could do was piss her off somehow then attack.

He'd either score a serious hit or get the tar beat out of him.

He had an unpleasant hunch that it was the latter.

"What's the matter with you Cal'? That kick barely had any bite to it at all." He said with some disappointment in his voice, "If you put that kind of effort into screwing a guy then maybe I wasted my time coming here."

THAT did it!

With that one statement about her ability to perform in bed she began to lay into him with renewed fury as well as a substantial increase in skill.

Not necessarily a good thing where his continued survival was concerned.

This was proven when an attempt to roll out of the way of an attack resulted in the back of his shirt receiving a quartet of slash holes to go with the ones in the front. Taking a moment to inspect the damage he was forced to realize that this shirt was pretty much a complete right off. Even if he had someone try and sow it back together it'd be pretty obvious to anyone looking at it that it had been slashed to pieces. With a grunt of annoyance at another item of clothing becoming trash he ripped off his shirt not seeing the purpose of keeping it on any longer. Now clad in only boxers he decided that if he was going to lose an article of clothing over this smackdown then so was Ms. I-Am-Shi'ar. With increased incentive to land a blow he chose to go on the offensive this time with a chaotic series of punches, chops and grab attempts. Contrary to what some might believe this wasn't because he was too angry to think strategically but rather because he knew that Cal'Syee would be able to pick up on any pattern fairly quickly. At the moment all he was concerned with was the 'perfect opening' he was hoping she'd provide him with so he could get some payback for the ruined shirt. Fortunately he didn't have long to wait because when she lunged forward with the intention of tackling him to the ground he saw his chance. Grabbing her by the shoulder straps of her body suit he used her momentum to his advantage and fell onto his back while using his right foot to push her past him with quite a bit of strength.

The key to his plan though was that he didn't let go of the shoulder straps of her bodysuit and put just enough power behind his right leg to ensure his plan worked.

And it did.

BOTH shoulder straps were torn off the Shi'ar woman's outfit.

Getting back to his feet he dropped both pieces of cloth immediately he waited for the inevitable blow up, the rush to conceal her chest and the promise of retribution later on. While he was somewhat not looking forward to her experiencing the two week withdrawl session with Rogue it was clear that she was either insane or completely against doing anything intimate with him. Personally he thought that it could very well be a combination of the two and while a two week period of her PMSing wasn't going to be pleasant he wasn't about to force her to do anything she didn't want to do. If she was so against the idea of receiving the counteragent then he was **so** going to leave and wait for who ever was next in line. Sure she had said that she was only here to get rid of the pheramones in her body but if that was the case then why was she trying to pound him into paste.

Hearing a sound coming from her mouth he was soon inspired to ask another question.

Why was she laughing?

"It's about time you got into the spirit of things Xander." Cal' said as she stood up completely fine with the fact that she was now essentially topless, "I was beginning to think that you weren't interested."

"Interested? In what?" he asked completely clueless about what she was getting at.

"Why the foreplay of course." She replied with an interested grin as she prepared to renew her offensive, "Nothing so **boring** as what Storm likely employed. Besides I find 'screwing' to be much more **interesting** after a light sparring session."

FOREPLAY!?

Before he could get her to elaborate on that bizarre and somewhat troubling statement she darted forward with the intent to continue her bizarre version of foreplay. He tried to put up a defense but was less than successful with all the…bouncing…that was going on. As a result she managed to throw him to the ground and straddle him resulting in her…endowments…to dangle right in his face further distracting him. While he wouldn't place them at watermelon size they were definitely superior to anything in the B-cup range. If he recalled correctly there also wasn't an ounce of sag in either one with perky nipples that unless he was mistaken were quite pointed with arousal. It was then he decided that he was focusing entirely too much of his attention in the area below her shoulders when he should be putting up more of a defense. However with her in the position she was in he would have a hard time knocking her off or rolling her over without some kind of a distraction.

It took him less than a second to decide on what to do.

After all if his mind was already on them then why not put them to use.

So without further delay he used what maneuvering room he had with his arms pinned down and began to stimulate her breasts. By his logic she'd either be shocked by this act enough for him to turn the tables on her or like it much she wouldn't be able to maintain her focus. Either way he'd have an opening to get her off and then he'd show her just where she stood in this little skirmish. Also he had picked up a few…tricks…during his session with with Storm that were **quite** effective when it came to **stimulating** a lady. He knew he'd hit the right spot when her eyes threatened to roll back under the onslaught of pleasure however instead of loosening her grip or unbalancing herself it seemed to strengthen her position. So he was forced to do something that would probably be something he'd pay for later but it was the only thing that sprang to mind. So with only a moment of hesitation he went from inducing pleasure to inducing pain. Nothing too serious was done of course but certainly enough to hopefully startle her into backing off thus allowing him to escape. However the reaction he got from her was the complete opposite of the one he wanted **AGAIN**.

Instead of backing off, she actually leaned forward more!

"It would seem Xander that your performance with the Windrider was not the fluke I thought it was." Deathbird said with a smile that sent shivers down his spine, "Let us hope that your **performance** doesn't shrink in quality before the night is done."

She **liked** being bit like **that**.

He suddenly had a bad feeling about how the rest of the night would go for him.

A **VERY** bad feeling!

&

_**Gambit's Bedroom, Second Floor of the Mansion, 11:00a.m, Remy's P.O.V**_

_While I be the last person to bother a friend when it come to pleasing the ladies, those two were too loud last night._ Remy thought as he pulled a shirt on so he could go get some breakfast.

He was pretty certain that that would be the opinion of just about every member of the household aside from Xander and Deathbird. While those to were making like rabbits, everyone else was doing their best to get a good night's sleep but, unfortunately, the bird lady's **vocal** judgments on Dragon Boy's skills hindered that idea. In the end he'd been forced to get some Kleenex and stuff it into his ears just to muffle the noise those two were making enough to fall asleep. He still felt a little tired and, if it weren't for the fact that he'd promised to help Stormy with some work in her greenhouse, he'd still be in bed until mid-afternoon. Opening the door to his room, he was about to step out and begin the trek to the kitchen when he heard footsteps heading his way. Never one to suppress his inner curiosity, he turned and saw a sight that had him wondering just what the **HELL** happened last night.

Walking down the hallway in his direction was none other than one Xander Harris himself but the interesting part was that the guy was limping a bit and had some light scars on his body.

Well, that and the fact that the man had only a purple piece of cloth wrapped around his waist to preserve his virtue and that cloth looked sorta like something Deathbird had worn once. This, of course, raised all sorts of questions about just what had gone on between the two and what sort of damage the bird lady did to the young man that would linger in someone that healed almost as fast as Logan. As Xander closed to the eight foot mark, he noticed the Cajun's questioning stare and grimaced for a moment before saying just one thing.

"Trust me, Gambit. You **SO** don't wanna know!"

With that said, the young man continued down the hallway, opened the door to his room, entered and then closed the door behind him. For a time he thought on what the golden-eyed boy had said, thought on what he'd seen and in the end he decided that there was only one thing he could do.

He went back into his room, closed the door, stripped off the shirt he'd just put on and got back into bed.

The reason?

He believed that either he hadn't gotten enough sleep the previous night and considered what he just saw to be a bad omen.

Considering the life he'd lived so far he knew better than to ignore the signs of a bad day in the making.


	22. Psylocke and Dr Reyes

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the copyrighted material shown herein. It is all the rightful property of their respective creators and associated companies. I make no profit off of this whatsoever and do not intend to have that change at some point in the future.

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_**Elizabeth 'Betsy' Braddock aka Psylocke and Dr. Cecilia Reyes**_

_**X-Mansion, The Next Day, Evening, Xander's **_

_**( version)**_

_Well, that's two down and three to go. _Xander thought as he mentally prepared himself for round three of five, _I wonder what doing it with Betsy's like?_

While he would never admit this to anyone out loud, he was no longer quite so hesitant or anything when it came to giving the gals their 'shots'. Oh, sure, he wouldn't try to make anything of it afterwards, he knew that ninety percent of their willingness came from wanting to get back to normal, but he'd like to think they had a good time with him just the same. Add to that the fact that he was gaining something of a sexual education with every lady he spent the night with and he would be well armed for the lady he wound up falling for someday. After all, both Storm and Deathbird both had different personalities as well as different styles and that extended to the ways they made love or liked to be loved. For Storm it had been a passionate storm with the occasional crackle of pleasure that only grew stronger as time went on. Deathbird, on the other hand, had been a fight for dominance where pleasure and sex was mixed in more as an afterthought than an actual goal. It had been an **interesting** experience but one he wasn't sure if he wanted to repeat anytime soon. With his healing ability it had taken quite a bit of effort on her part to get him limping back to his room and, while he didn't mind a LITTLE roughness in the bedroom, he drew the line at limp-inducing injuries. It kinda but a damper on the whole after glow effect and that just wasn't right at all.

He'd already gotten a message from Betsy telling him where to go with a little note at the bottom hinting that she had two surprises waiting for him that she thought he'd like. He wasn't quite sure how to take that, given what she'd done at the mall that one time, but one thing he was certain about was that he'd leave **very** scared about what went on in the British ninja's mind. Nevertheless, he would do as she asked and go to the cabin that, according to scuttlebutt around the mansion, was used by Scott and Jean Grey-Summers when they were around. With Cyclops and Jean up in Alaska recovering from their brush with Operation: Zero Tolerance, it was completely vacant and that was probably why she chose it for their session. He'd gotten something of a clue concerning what they'd intended but he was a little confused by the fact that he looked like he'd dressed up for a seriously important job interview. Good pants, long sleeve business shirt and a tie were the primary parts of the outfit but that still wasn't enough to help him figure out precisely what she had planned. Did she want to have dinner with him before they got down to business? Possible, but neither Storm or Cal' had been interested in that sort of thing so what had Psylocke thinking about being different? Whatever the reason, the least he could do was follow their instructions, seeing as how he put them in their current predicament, knowingly or not, and that meant he was obligated to do what he could.

It didn't take him long to reach the cabin and, feeling that it was only right for him to give Betsy a heads up, knocked before entering.

"Come in hunk of my dreams!" Came Psylocke's voice with a little humor intermixed with the words to let him know she wasn't **completely** serious.

_Doesn't she sound like she's in a playful mood!_ He thought with a roll of the eyes as he imagined what that probably meant for him.

Opening the door, his eyes fell upon a sight that had his Sunnydale paranoia warning him to watch his step or else he'd pay for it big time. Instead of a comfortable cabin furnished with the usual things one would expect a married couple's home to have, he saw what looked like a big city medical clinic. Not one of those that had dozens of doctors and nurses but rather a small neighborhood one with only minimal staff employed like the doctor, a secretary and maybe one or two nurses. However he sincerely doubted that any clinic in the world had a Puerto Rican Nurse wearing a white mini-skirt that barely covered the essentials (and wouldn't cover it at all if she bent over), two white strips rising from the skirt to barely cover half a breast each and a white hat with a red cross on it. However as… interesting as the outfit was, he was more dumbstruck by the person wearing it because, while some might think an outfit that matched the wearer's skin tone was better, this costume only made him focus on her beautiful body all the more. Looking at her fabulous form, from her long legs to her excellent eyes, he had to wonder why mankind didn't make a beautiful woman their weapon against evil. After all, he was a pretty decent guy for the most part and he was almost paralyzed by what he saw before him at the moment.

"Your eight pm appointment is waiting for you in the examination room, Dr. Harris." Doc Reyes said in a seductively professional matter, "This way, sir."

Deciding to roll with this role-play scenario, he followed her towards the bedroom, almost bumping into a few things due to how distracted he was with her sashaying butt. He knew that she was doing it on purpose and he had to admit she knew how to sway that ass seductively because it sure had his attention. However, when he looked upon the person laying in the plush bed made to look like a hospital bed, he nearly fainted from the blood flow dropping like a rock to a place below the waist. Lying on top of the covers, wearing what looked like the top half and the bottom half of your average hospital gown, was none other than one Elizabeth Braddock in all her stunning glory. From the looks of it, she'd taken an actual gown from the local hospital, cut out the middle part from just beneath her chest to just above her hips, and then used tape to make sure the improvised skirt stayed on.

Logical, considering, the fact that it probably wouldn't be staying on her for very long.

Deciding to play up the whole 'Dr. Harris' thing they apparently wanted to go with, he asked, "So what seems to be the problem, Nurse Reyes?"

"Well, **Doctor** Harris, it seems the patient is suffering from an acute case of boredom brought on by a drop in attention levels due to the severe lack of a boyfriend." Cecilia replied, smiling as she got into her role as his loyal nurse.

"That's truly sad to hear my dear miss…?" he asked, not wanting to slip out of his role too much plus he was curious as to how she'd respond.

"Cocke, my name is Anita Cocke, Doctor Harris." She replied, sounding completely serious with the exception of playful sparkle in her eyes.

He almost choked with laughter at the name since it sounded both crazy and something he might've heard in a James Bond movie. However, he managed to hold the laughter in and keep a relatively composed look on his face despite his urge to do chuckle insanely for a second or two. He wasn't sure where they were coming up with this but it was definitely a nice change of pace from what he'd experienced with Deathbird and Storm.

"Well then, Ms. Cocke, I'll certainly do my best to help make you feel a **lot** better." He said before making a show of looking at her 'chart' then looking her right in the eye, "Now if my memory serves me right the prescribed treatment for this condition is an injection of foreplay followed by intensive pleasure therapy. In fact, depending on how you progress, I might have to gain some assistance from Nurse Reyes here."

"I would be only to happy to **assist,** Doctor." Reyes said with a wink that made him wonder just what happened to the usually reserved and sometimes grumpy doctor he usually saw.

"Well, let's begin treatment then." He said before he moved over to where Psylocke was waiting.

Deciding that he'd start from the bottom and work his way up he began kissing her feet, aiming for spots where he recalled Willow was the most sensitive when they had tickle fights, he was soon rewarded with a mix of giggles and moans. Naturally, since this was supposed to be more sexual than just blind fun, he tried to stick closer to the areas that produced moans rather than the spots that produced 'ha-ha' reactions. He tried not to take all day, though, because sex, he figured, was a lot like dinner: people tended to get a bit cranky if they had to wait around forever for the good stuff. Thus within two minutes he had reached the taped on skirt/gown part covering her from the waist to the mid-thigh area and now it was time to see if the curtains matched the drapes. Pulling off the taped makeshift skirt that used to be a hospital gown, he found that either Betsy was very thorough with her use of purple hair dye or had a cosmetic secondary mutation of some kind. He wondered which it was?

_Maybe if you manage to top every other guy I've ever been with I'll tell you._ She thought to him with her thoughts colored with lust.

With that incentive in his head, he leaned forward between her spread legs and began his work with great enthusiasm. He used all the previous experience he'd gained thus far to make sure that what she felt only got better with every bit of licking or probing he did. He could tell that she was enjoying herself judging from the moans and gasps coming from her mouth but in his mind the real tell tale sign was the fact that she had one hand on the back of his head making sure he didn't stop. He was about ready to begin his migration upwards to the heavenly valley that was her chest when he felt some exploring hands messing with the belt keeping his pants up. It stalled his 'treatment' for a second but, after a whimper from Betsy, he resumed and figured that it was probably Doc Reyes feeling a little left out. He supposed that was one of the problems with dealing with two ladies at one time: you had to multi-task or risk losing one of them. Still, he felt he was up to the task so he resumed his work with Braddock while shifting his stance somewhat to make it easier for Cecila. This turned out to be a **very** good thing because, after he changed his stance, it got distinctly drafty for a moment below the belt but it didn't last very long. Before he could start worrying about catching cold he felt something warm and wet envelope Xander junior.

Then the fun began.

Needless to say this proved to be quite beneficial for everyone involved because, thanks to how Cecilia was making him feel, he was definitely putting more oomph into what he was doing to Betsy. Was the Doc enjoying her side of things? Judging from the vibrations his was feeling, he'd say that was pretty much a given. Reaching up with one hand, he began to massage Psylocke's chest, sometimes pinching since she seemed to groan especially loud when he did. Not that she was the only one getting the urge to be vocal because whatever Reyes was doing was sending his pleasure centers into overdrive. This woman had **skills**! Either she had much more practice at this than he'd originally thought or she was a complete prodigy in this area. He decided that he'd side with the latter since he didn't like what that the former implied about the Doc. In any case, it wasn't long before he felt the pressure building to critical levels and, as a matter of courtesy, he decided to tap her on the shoulder to let her know it was coming. However, while he believed that she had understood his warning, she only increased her efforts pushing him closer to the edge that much quicker. With a surge of energy and tense muscles, he released himself into her while she took it all. Deciding one good turn deserved another, he intensified his efforts on Betsy, causing her to begin thrashing with pleasure on the bed.

"Yes! Yes! Do it!" Betsy yelled as she clawed at the sheets on the bed and tore off the top half of her outfit.

With one final cry of pleasure she arched her back and then relaxed, allowing the tension from the moment bleed off. Stepping back, he decided that there was little point to keeping the shirt on so, with a little too much force, he undid most of the buttons and tossed the shirt to the floor. Looking down at the glowing Asian woman, who obviously was basking in the lingering feelings of her experience, it left him wondering if he should continue with her or divert his attention to Reyes. In the end he decided that he'd leave Betsy to her own devices for the time being and instead focus on his 'helpful' nurse.

"Well, Nurse Reyes, I think we should let Ms. Cocke recover her strength before we begin the next stage of her treatment." He said, turning to the sort-of-but-not-really X-Woman, finding her partially unclothed and her skirt slightly askew, "However I think I might need to warm up if the next phase is going to work."

"Then by all means, **Doctor**!" She said, reaching behind her neck and undoing the clasp holding the straps up, "Allow me to stoke your fire."

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_**The Main Bedroom, The Summers Cabin, One Minute Later, Betsy Braddock's P.O.V**_

_The boy has talent. _Elisabeth thought as she watched him work on Cecilia, _A little bit of polish and I just might make this a monthly event._

It was not something she had seriously considered before tonight, she'd been much like the others in wanting to get back to normal, but after experiencing the tip of his talents firsthand, she had to wonder at the possibilities. It was no secret that her relationship with Warren had been somewhat on the rocks ever she was healed by the Crimson Dawn and part of her did want to try and make it work. Other parts of her, though, were telling her that her relationship with one of the founding members of the X-Men was over and any attempt to salvage it would only result in more heartache. Still, she knew that the idea of a relationship between her and Xander was pretty out there and definitely not in line with what modern society would consider acceptable. He was, after all, at least ten years younger than her and while age wasn't exactly a problem for her, she knew others would attempt to dissuade her. They'd tell her that it was wrong for two such different people to be in a more than platonic relationship with Xander or that the golden-eyed boy didn't know what he was getting into. As far as she was concerned, the concepts of right and wrong depended on the individual person rather than existing as absolutes. As for the latter, she believed that Harris was older than he appeared thanks to the things he'd faced in Sunnydale as well as in the X-Men. Not in chonronological terms, perhaps but rather in how he viewed the world. The childish naïveté, the sunshiny view of the world, was but a faint flicker inside of him being dominated by a more realistic view that most of the X-Men had thanks to years of experience. It was a sad thing to see in someone so young but it let her know that he wasn't some starry-eyed kid looking to lose his virginity or someone thinking about nothing but sex all the time.

"OOOHHH! DO ME BABY! YEAH!" Cecilia yelled as Xander worked her chest, "WORK ME GOOD! YES!"

_Definitely not a simple teenager!_ She thought with a feral smile as she saw how well he was **stimulating** the lady doctor.

Watching him inspire pleasure within Cecilia from behind, no doubt rubbing against her butt, while feeling her up at the same time was stoking her own fires. His stimulation of her body earlier had been easily on par with anyone she'd slept with in the past and that was with the roughness of an amateur creating a few bumps in the road. With a bit more **instruction** from an **experienced** instructor, he could easily become any woman's fantasy lover, no two ways about it. Definitely a job she wouldn't mind having since it would make breaking up with Warren a little easier to cope with. For the moment, though, she was going to have to do something with the tingly feeling her two playmates were responsible for because it was getting kind of hard to focus on anything else. For a moment she considered getting something out to amuse herself just in case something like this happened but, looking at Cecilia, she had another idea. It was something she hadn't been too sure about introducing early in the festivities but with Cecila in rodeo position and Xander in the right position, it seemed like the perfect time to take advantage of the situation. Reaching into the bag she'd hidden on the other side of the bed, she pulled out her toy before slipping it on and tightening it to make sure that it wouldn't flop around unnecessarily. With that done she got off the bed, moved in front of the Doc and, with a little careful manipulation of plastic, inserted it into the woman before her.

"Betsy? Wha-AAAGGHHH!" Cecilia asked before the plastic fully entered her, robbing her of the ability to think for the time being.

"I was feeling a little left out so I found a way to join in on the fun." She replied while keeping an even tempo going in and out, "Plus I thought you'd like to see what a woman's touch felt like."

With those words she began to pick up speed while at the same time showing the former emergency room doctor how talented her tongue was by using on the woman's chest. This definitely silenced any protest because with her and Xander double teaming her, things of a negative nature might as well not existed in Reyes' body. Things only got more pleasurable for the Puerto Rican woman when Xander tilted her head slightly so they could play tonsil hockey with one another. Say what you will about the other skills Harris might have but kissing was definitely something he was good at. Feeling the woman in front of her beginning to move more urgently, she knew Cecilia was moments away from popping and so doubled her stimulating efforts so as to make the experience as potent as possible.

"DO ME! DO IT HARDER! **FASTER**!" Doc Reyes wailed, adding her own efforts to the mix, "I'M GONNA…I'M GONNNNAAAAA--!"

With those words her fuck partner tensed up as the climax hit, arching her back while thrust her chest forward, and she wasn't the only one popping with pleasure.

"OOOOHHHHH DDDAAAAMMMMNNNN!" Xander yelled as he popped his cork.

With two of the three people satisfied, she slipped out of Reyes and helped her off Xander since she was a little tired from her exertions. Helping Cecilia into a nearby chair, she turned around to see the male member of their menagerie easing himself onto the bed since the floor made for a poor place to recover his strength. Still from the look in his eyes his strength was swiftly returning and considering his 'reload time', between Reyes giving him a 'mouth hug' and giving her something special, she wouldn't have to wait long to get a ride from him herself. Looking at how he was half recovered already, she had a pretty good idea when he'd be ready to go again and she was looking forward to it.

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_**The Cabin of Cyclops and Phoenix, Master Bedroom, Thirty Seconds Later, Cecilia's P.O.V**_

_Oh Momma! Can't remember the last time I felt this sinfully sore! _Cecilia Reyes thought relaxing on the chair while Xander and Betsy started round two.

She had been a little concerned in the beginning when Betsy approached her earlier in the day about making Xander's next bedtime rendezvous a threesome but now was beginning to get a taste for it. She wasn't a lesbian by any stretch of the imagination but when the British Asian had joined in on her fun with Xander, things had gone from intense to obscenely glorious. She still wouldn't be changing her sexual orientation the other way anytime soon but maybe she might be willing to do a repeat of tonight if it would make her feel this good again. Having two people double team her, one of which being a woman, was a new experience and one she felt she liked. In fact she wouldn't mind going for another round of that herself and, judging by the stamina Xander was displaying, there was a good chance she'd get her wish before the sun rose in the morning. At the moment Psylocke was on top of him, riding him cowgirl style with his hands on her hips matching her thrust for thrust ensuring that they got the maximum amount of pleasure for their efforts. He knew how to use what he had well so she could understand why one Elizabeth Braddock was currently screaming for more.

"YES! EVERY **INCH**! I WANT EVERY INCH IN ME!!" Betsy screamed as she rode her bed partner with a passion, "HARDER! DO IT LIKE YOU **LOVE** IT! HARDER!"

Now, while she was still somewhat heady, she had to wonder whether it was Xander's impressive lovemaking skills or something to do with the dragon pheromones in their blood. Were those pheromones somehow intensifying the pleasure derived from their bed play? If so then to what degree was in increasing the feelings he was inspiring in them? Personally she hoped that it was the boys own skills that had made her feel this good because it'd be a blow to the boy's ego if he made love in the future and was found lacking by his girl. Still, given how frisky those pheromones had been making her the past few weeks and McCoy's description of their 'condition', she would be foolish to completely discount the possibility.

_Whatever the reason, this is some of the best sex I've had in a __**long**__ time._ She thought to herself as she started to get a familiar itch, _Time to get me some more._

Getting out of her chair, she sauntered over to the bed and, without any hesitation, she joined the fun.

The three of them proceeded to dance a dance that was older than time itself, moving, writhing, probing and undulating until the inevitable end approached, causing a domino effect that cascaded from one to another to another, leaving them all gasping, panting and more than satisfied as they came down from their orgasmic highs.

"Well that was certainly something I won't forget anytime soon." Xander said with his usual goofy smile on his face and his golden eyes glowed with their inner fire.

"What makes you think it's over, lover?" She asked him with a playfulness that was more serious than whimsical.

"Quite right, Cecilia. As a matter of fact, I'd say that you're only two thirds of the way done with me and Cecilia." Betsy said, obviously implying some hidden meaning in her words, "In fact, just to be certain that we'll be back to normal, I think you might need to do a few spots over just to be on the safe side. Isn't that right, 'Nurse' Reyes?"

"Quite right indeed, Ms. Cocke." She replied with a smile on her face that was making Xander look a little uneasy, "In fact, I think this might very well take **all** night to do."

She almost broke out in chuckles at the look on Xander's face.

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_**Mid-Afternoon, X-Mansion Kitchen, Bishop's P.O.V**_

_We're out of orange juice._ Bishop thought to himself as he closed the fridge door and walked to the dining room table, _I'll have to jot it down on the grocery list for this week._

He was about to bite into his sandwich when the door leading to the back yard of the mansion opened to reveal a tired looking Xander Harris. The young man wasn't precisely dead on his feet but it was clear that he could have used a few more hours of sleep. He nodded at the kid and resumed eating his sandwich, figuring that the golden-eyed boy was probably hungry after all the energy he expended last night. While he might not have done it in the house this time for all to hear, everyone had seen enough signs from his evenings with Ororo and Deathbird to know what sort of state he'd be in afterwards. It looked to be a little worse this time around but that wasn't surprising considering the fact that it was Betsy that he was scheduled to have his session with last night. While he had never had the pleasure himself, he had heard enough things second or third hand about what Psylocke was like on dates that it wasn't difficult to figure out how things must have went. By his count that meant that there were only two women, Doctor Cecilia Reyes and Marrow, who had yet to receive the counteragent to cure them of the dragon pheromones that would impair their judgment if not neutralized. The sooner the better in his opinion because Rogue was already beginning to show signs of increased stress, irritability and mood swings. Nothing too serious so far but he could tell that it would get worse before it got better.

He was already thinking up scenarios and strategies for how they could minimize the damage to team effectiveness in the field.

He was just taking another sip of his drink when he noticed something a tad off that made him pause for a moment. When Xander had come in, he had presumed that the boy had come in for something to eat but, unless he was very hungry, then three trays of food was a bit much. Fortunately he didn't have to ask a question since the young man seemed ready to give him the answers he sought.

"Cecilia and Betsy decided to double team me." Xander said, delicately balancing the three trays of breakfast food in his hands, "They woke up and demanded breakfast. How could I say no?"

"How indeed." He said with a rise from his right eyebrow to show how intrigued he was.

"I'm just happy they didn't ask for something fancier than we had the stuff for." Xander said as he finally determined just the right position for each tray, "I can cook as good as the next guy but I'm no miracle worker."

With those words the young sort of member of the X-Men walked back through the door he entered through to deliver the promised meals to the ladies he made love to the previous night. While it had been a little unexpected for the two ladies to share the same session it would make things easier for him since it'd mean two more members of the team would be fit for duty sooner rather than later. That would only leave the Morlock, Marrow, to be cured of the foreign pheromones and that could be handled at any point in the next twenty-four hours.

All in all things were progressing nicely.

_With a little luck this'll get him through the awkward dating stage._ He thought as a small smile he'd deny ever forming appeared on his face, _Should be amusing to see how he handles the teenage lover phase 'cause I doubt some of those ladies will be satisfied with a one night stand._


	23. Marrow and the Day After

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the copyrighted material shown herein. They are the rightful property of the creators and associated companies. I make no money off of this whatsoever nor to I intend to try and make money off of this in the future.

**WARNING! ADULT SITUATIONS AHEAD! SEXUALLY EXPLICIT SCENES AHEAD!**

THIS IS TO WARN YOU THE READERS THAT AHEAD ARE SCENES OF EXPLICIT SEX AND ADULT CONTENT. ALL THOSE BENEATH THE AGE OF 21 SHOULD NOT PROCEED ANY FURTHER. THIS SHOULD NOT BE READ BY THOSE PEOPLE BELOW THE PERMITTED AGE FOR READING ADULT LEVEL MATERIAL. I REPEAT! SEXUALLY EXPLICIT AND ADULT CONTENT LAY AHEAD!

**WARNING! ADULT SITUATIONS AHEAD! SEXUALLY EXPLICIT SCENES AHEAD!**

_**The Xavier Estate, Near the Side of the Lake, Close to Sunset, Xander's P.O.V**_

_**( version)**_

_I hope that Storm can keep it together until I'm ready here._ He thought as he finished making sure that the fancy bed was just right.

He could still hear, in the back of his head, the voice that was telling him that he was going too far with his preparations for tonight's session with Sarah. While he'd like to believe that everything that Marrow had done, up until now, was just a side-effect of the dragon pheromones that she'd been exposed to, he couldn't help but wonder if she was one of the ones with a pre-existing attraction to him. McCoy had said that there was a possibility that some of the affected ladies (or at least one) might have possessed feelings for him already and that the pheromones only enhanced these feelings. If the sex with the previous ladies was any indication, he'd definitely put down Betsy and Deathbird as the two most likely possibilities thus far. Both had enjoyed the sex immensely, more so than the others, and he thought it was pretty safe to say that both of them wouldn't mind doing it again down the road. As for the resident Morlock girl…well…there were definitely some signs that she wouldn't bet a wet blanket tonight when it came time to get down to business but, then again, she was roughly his age. Being a teenager, she had the same normal hormonal problems that all teenage girls had so the possibility of her just crushing on him or being 'in lust' with him wasn't impossible if the dragon stuff was taken out of the picture. In truth, he supposed that the reason he was going the extra mile for Sarah was two fold: first there was the fact that she might actually like him in a more than friend way and, second, he just felt like doing something nice for her.

She'd lived most of her life in the sewers of New York City, where she had to live in conditions he wouldn't have his father live in, fighting for every scrap of food she could get her hands on. This had led her to have a pretty harsh outlook on life and the world she lived in resulting in the kind of behavior that most people associated with her. Abrasive, bitchy, arrogant and cynical were just a few of the words he'd heard people around the mansion use when talking about Marrow. Personally, though, he thought that she wasn't all that difficult from your average teenage girl but just had the burdens of being an obvious mutant as well as a Morlock messing with her mindset. He'd already had a personal experience or two about what it was like to be a mutant in this world, thanks to the infusion of Kung Lung's essence, but his physical differences were easy to handle. He just had to make sure he wore dark shades whenever he thought he might be in amongst non-mutants and he could pretty much relax. It was nowhere near as easy for Marrow, who had bones popping out of her skin from almost every conceivable spot on her body with no real way to control the where part of things. True, there were certain areas that seemed to be bone free most of the time (not that he check, of course!) but whether that was due to nature or because the teenager took time to remove some of the bones that poked out of her more **sensitive** areas, he wasn't sure.

He couldn't help but wince and blush at the same time at those thoughts.

Moving those thoughts along to something a little less touchy, he tried to finish setting up the makeshift canopy bed by making sure that the poles he'd tied to the corners of the bed with ribbons. He'd pretty much had to move the bed from Scott and Jean's cabin to the edge of the lake but, from there, he'd had to find some reasonably sturdy steel poles. Once he found what he'd needed, he'd grabbed some ribbons that he'd found along with a pink near transparent sheet that he'd arranged to hang down from the tops of the poles. He'd also carried out a small table that two people could comfortably have a meal on without too much difficulty. Now, that may have been going too far but some part of him felt compelled to make sure that this was a special night for the teenage girl. While he knew for a fact that sex was nothing new to the other women, he suspected from the way that Sarah behaved that she was still very much a virgin. The talking big routine mixed with defensive remarks whenever a discussion drifted too close to the intimate details were all the earmarks of someone who thought about sex but never actually did the deed. So, rather than treat this like a typical one night stand, he wanted to make Marrow's first time as painless and perhaps as enjoyable as possible. That was why he was going with this whole lakeside dinner and bed deal because he thought it'd be the sort of romantic thing that a teenage girl would like. Then again, the Morlock girl wasn't what anyone would consider to be a typical teenage girl so for all he knew this set up might just make things more awkward or nerve wracking for her.

_Well, it's too late to do anything about it now. _He thought as he took a few steps back to see how things looked, _All I can do is hope that I don't make a complete ass of myself._

With the table set, candles in place, he began to trot back to the mansion to see if what he'd prepared for their meal was ready. It wasn't anything too fancy, just some spaghetti with a side of garlic bread, since he figured that he didn't want to stick her with the 'what fork do I use for this' situation. It had been bad enough the one time that he'd actually been able to afford an expensive date with Cordy and he had gone through it. He very nearly had a heart attack trying to figure out which was the right one! No way was he going to put Sarah through the same thing!

It was only three minutes after he'd finished putting some sauce onto the two plates of pasta that he heard the sounds of two people arguing and it sounded like it was coming from the front of the mansion. Considering that it was two female voices and one of them definitely sounded like she belonged on a throne, he figured it was safe to say that Ororo and Marrow were back from their little trip. He'd spoken with Storm earlier in the day and gave her the edited version of what he'd planned for that night and requested that she find some way of keeping Sarah away from the mansion at least until sunset. He had seen on her face how…unattractive…the idea of spending time with Marrow had been to Storm but he'd owe her a BIG favor and that had been enough to get her to agree. There had been a slight twinkle in her eye as she left to drag the Morlock girl from her basement dwelling but he took that to mean that she'd probably have him doing some sort of chore or something that was rather unpleasant.

What else could it be?

Moving as quickly as he could out the back door, he carried the plates over to the set up table by the lakeside with a small one liter jug of milk under one arm with two glasses tucked under the other. He knew that the right thing to do would probably be to use wine instead of milk but he personally didn't like alcohol and he didn't know what kind of tolerance Sarah had for booze, so he chose not to take chances. Carefully setting the two plates of pasta down, followed by the glasses and finally the jug of milk he went over the entire layout to make sure he didn't miss anything.

Table and chairs? Check.

Food and drink? Check.

Candle's lit and in place? Check.

Canopy bed ready? Check.

_Looks like everything's as ready as it's going to be. _He thought as he poured some milk into each glass, _Time to escort the young lady to her special night._

Walking back to the mansion, he could see through the kitchen window how Marrow and Storm were going at it like two banshees. He might not know the whole story between the two of them but he definitely believed that it would take an act of God himself to get them to go more than a day without snarking at one another. He just hoped that their little trip hadn't made things too unpleasant for Storm, otherwise she was going to be asking for one helluva favor from him in return. With that in mind he sped up the pace of his walking to make sure he didn't wind up owing Ororo anymore than he absolutely had to.

"I am not wearing this outfit anymore, Weather Witch!!" Sarah yelled, throwing a cup at the white haired African beauty, "It won't do a thing to make me blend in and it's…it's…PINK!"

That, of course, made his raise an eyebrow but when he actually entered the kitchen he was stunned into immobility by what he saw. Standing before him wearing a sexy yet fashionably middle class pink dress was the mutant known to the world as Marrow. Armless with two spaghetti straps keeping it from falling to her feet, it definitely clung to her curves and from what he could tell it was pretty much backless until it hit her waist. There it seemed to flow like water over her hips until it stopped just shy of her knees by half an inch or so, allowing her toned legs to be shown off. Topping it all off was a set of shoes that didn't quite meet the standards for a party thrown by the society elite but definitely not something your average middle class girl could afford without weeks of saving their allowances. All in all she looked pretty good no doubt she wasn't seeing what he was, but rather all the places her uncontrollable bone growths were popping out of her skin. All those years growing up beneath the city among her fellow Morlocks, clawing for survival every day, had done little to help the redhead. While on the outside she might not mind her mutations and, in some cases, used them proudly, he suspected that internally she just wanted to be like everyone else. In a way she had it worse than Buffy back home because, while the Sunnydale Slayer might not have chosen her destiny, the blonde could at least walk around in public without a care. For Sarah, she was forever treated like a freak, an outcast, by the world because of something she couldn't control or pull a return to sender with.

_Well tonight she's going to have an experience that every teenage girl in America has been through at least once!_ He thought with determination in his soul before saying, "Looking good, Sarah!"

This shut up the Morlock girl immediately and look decidedly self-conscious for a few minutes before the usual attitude reasserted itself, resulting in a glare that would have melted a hole in Adamantium. Deciding that it'd probably be best for the mansion residents and this evening as a whole, he decided it was best to get the show on the road.

"Well since you're dressed for the occasion, what do you say to getting our date underway?" He asked with his patented lopsided smile on his face.

"Hmph! It's screwing, dragon-boy, plain and simple." Marrow stated crossing her arms across her chest.

"Maybe, but that's no reason why we can't have a good evening before getting down to business." He said grabbing her by the hand and pulling her out the door, "See ya later, Storm!"

He managed to get the two of them a whole thirty yards before Sarah started resisting a bit and he debated whether or not to simply increase the pulling but, in the end, he decided to let her control things. After all, unless he was very much mistaken, the Morlock girl was a certified virgin and, considering her usual temperament, it would probably make things go smoother.

"What the hell do you think you're doing, Xander?" Marrow asked, sounding equal parts confused and angry with regards to how she was being treated.

"Taking you to your table, young lady." He replied with an encouraging smile as he beckoned her to follow him towards the lake area, "You see, I sort of asked Ororo to get you out of the mansion for the a few hours so I could set everything up. Do you want to take a look?"

"Um…sure?" She replied, sounding more confused than angry now that she had some idea about what was going on.

A good thing since it'd make things a little easier.

It didn't take them long to reach the lake shore and he could tell precisely when she spotted the stuff he'd set up because she stopped in her tracks, let her jaw drop and her eyes widened as far as they could go. Thankfully the skies were just right, the temperature was just above room temperature and, thanks to the candles he lit, the entire scene was like something out of a romance movie. While he could personally see the appeal of it all, he wasn't about to get too mushy if things got a little sappy.

Giving the girl a little tug, he led her to her seat and, after pulling it out for her like a gentleman, he waited for her to sit down before moving the seat back to a position closer to the table and the food. Pouring her a glass of milk before doing to the same to his own glass, he sat down across from her both so he could be in a position to eat as well as see her reactions. He could tell right away that shock and disbelief were the two primary emotions but, beneath that, he thought he perceived a flicker of something approaching happiness. His own heart warmed at that because if his efforts even took a slight pebble off of the chip on her shoulder he'd consider everything worth it. The next part of this little evening before things got hot and heavy would be a little harder to get rolling: conversation. Sure, the two of them could eat as well as the next person but he had no idea what sort of topics would make for interesting conversation. It was definitely a bit iffy and he didn't want to accidently say something that would set her off on one of her 'fear me' spiels. Deciding to go with something a little off the wall, he asked her about what she thought about her time at the X-mansion so far. He knew it wasn't all hugs and puppies for her, considering the fact that she probably had something bad to say about just about everything or everyone she knew of.

Another thing to attribute to the lifestyle the Morlocks lived and what they had to do just to survive in a world that couldn't look past the physical shell to the person that laid beneath.

Still, it got the ball rolling through their meal with him using humor to wipe away any negative thoughts he thought she might be thinking as they spoke. She particularly seemed to like it when he made cracks about the other mansion residents but he made sure that whatever he said would only be funny rather than funny and hurtful. This did wonders where dinner conversation was concerned and thankfully it looked like she enjoyed the meal quite a bit based on how she was wolfing it down. While not an amateur cook thanks to his deadbeat parents swearing off anything that didn't come in a liquor bottle, he had still been a bit concerned that he'd forgotten something when he made the sauce. He knew that he could simply have used spaghetti sauce from a jar or something but it had felt wrong to cheapen the whole meal like that. Thus, he had done his best to recall the recipe he'd helped Mrs. Summers with one time when the gang had all arrived at Buffy's home for a group meal to dispel the mood the bigots of Sunnydale had dumped on them. She'd asked for his help in getting a few things and he'd wound up preparing the entire meal with her, during which she acted more like a cooking teacher than Mrs. S. Still, if the small smile the food was getting from Marrow were any indication, he had nothing to worry about.

So the night wore on, conversation and great food making for a great warm up for what was to come, but in the end they both knew that it was time to get down to business. After tending to the last few things that needed seeing to, they moved over to the bed and for a moment just looked at each other as if waiting for the other to make the first move. For him it was simply a desire to let her be in the driver's seat for this one but for her it was more than likely her nerves that were keeping her locked with indecision. Despite all the bragging she'd apparently done to the other X-Women about how she'd ride him like a champion or treat him to a night of rough sex, she was behaving more like your typical teenage girl. As a full minute ticked by, he decided that if they were going to get anywhere before the next ice age he'd have to be the one to break the ice. Reaching forward with his right hand, he tipped her head up a bit before lowering his lips to meet Sarah's and delivering a kiss that, while not chaste, wasn't too aggressive either. He could tell in an instant that her mood was definitely of a teenage girl experiencing her first time and in an effort to ease her into things he gently stroked her from just beneath the armpit to her waist. This seemed to do its job well enough since he could sense her anxiety going down but the real clue that it was working was when her arms wrapped around his waist as she pressed her own body closer to his. While this was a definite sign that she was getting into the spirit of things he wasn't about to speed up the pace without a sure fire sign from Sarah.

Her tongue tentatively seeking entrance into his mouth was **definitely** as sign.

Opening his mouth, he allowed his own tongue to get in on the game of tonsil hockey since he knew if he refrained from doing so she might get antsy again thinking she was doing something wrong. Her body, on the other hand, seemed to know what to do since without any orders from the Morlock girl was grinding itself against his body rather sexually. He waited a little bit until he felt her anxiety drop to the lowest it was probably going to go at this stage before choosing to see just how much farther he could take things. He was still perfectly willing to let her control the pace of things but in his mind that didn't mean that he couldn't test the waters a bit. With that in mind he let his right hand drift downwards and begin to caress her ass, the fabric of the dress between his flesh and hers, with one or two light squeezes thrown in for variety. This, however, had the unanticipated effect of the kissing and grinding coming to an abrupt halt before he suddenly found himself flat on his back on the bed. Looking up at her, worried that he might have overstepped his bounds a bit, he was puzzled to see her gazing down at him with an undefined look in her eyes he would later reflect that it was undefined only because it was the first time he'd seen it in Sarah's eyes.

Her reaching up and sliding the spaghetti straps off her shoulders resulting in the dress sliding down her lithe body to the ground, however, filled in the gaps enough that he could figure out the rest. Her body was that of an experienced tennis player or maybe a gymnast and, apparently sometime during their little excursion, Storm had seen fit to buy undergarments for the Morlock girl. While not a granny panty and bra set, Ororo had obviously decided to stand at the side of caution when picking them out since they didn't look like they'd been borrowed from the wardrobe of Jenna Jameson. Of course that might have to do with the fact that she was, at best, a mid-to-large C cup and the porn star was a publically known double D but in his opinion anything more than a handful is a waste. All in all, despite the bony protrusions at her knees, back and on the bottom rung of her rib cage, she was definitely a hot looking number from where he was laying. Peripherally he was aware of some slight abnormalities on her forehead and figured that it was a sign of two bones that lay just beneath the surface but which would soon break the surface in a week or two. However he would not speak of it here, nor would he let his eyes linger on them since doing either would spoil the mood he'd been trying to set for the teenage Morlock. Fortunately, as she crawled on top of him until their eyes were level with one another, she didn't seem to notice that he noticed the sub dermal bone growths on her forehead.

This time it was she who started things off as she clamped her lips onto his own and, with a bit more aggression than before, pushed her tongue between his lips. He didn't stop her at all and, seeing as how she had discarded her dress, he took this to mean that she was willing to get a bit more physical so he caressed her legs from knee to ass with a passion that was rising within him. Other things were rising as well and he hoped he'd get a chance to rid himself of his jeans at least or else he was going to be quite uncomfortable sooner rather than later. Soon Marrow sat up on her haunches and looked at him with lust wafting around in her eyes in such a way that even a complete idiot would be able to see it, but the purpose behind these movements became clear soon enough. Grabbing the front of his t-shirt, she wasted little time in tearing it open to expose his muscular chest and, if her sexy smile was anything to go by, she was most definitely pleased. Letting her hands glide down his torso, he had the feeling she had been wanting to do that for awhile and it made him wonder about the theory McCoy and Strange had spoken of. Could Marrow be one of them? Considering the kisses mixed with the odd bit of licking she was executing from his neck downwards, he'd say that her liking him without her body chemistry being messed with was a definite possibility.

Watching her as she began to work on his belt, he could sort of tell that her libido was dictating her actions now and whatever nervous energy that might have been making her hesitate earlier had been vaporized. Once she had his belt undone, he lifted his butt a bit to make it easier for her to pull down his pants and this resulted in her getting a quick eye full of Xander junior since this time he'd decided to go commando rather than wear boxers. He'd learned a valuable lesson during his session with Deathbird and considering how close Marrow's personality matched Cal'Syee's he wasn't about to kiss any more clothes goodbye unless he absolutely had to. That was also the reason why he'd chosen to wear his least liked T-shirt since he wouldn't mind seeing it bite the dust, though he might have some explaining to do where Betsy was concerned since she was the one who bought it for him. In any case, Marrow looked like a Morlock that had just come across an entire box of unopened Twinkies that were easily four months from expiring.

Okay, maybe she was thinking of something else and maybe Morlocks would value something other than those oh so sweet snack cakes, but it was just how his mind worked.

Taking hold of it with one hand she seemed to play with it a bit, more curious than anything else, but eventually she began to lower her mouth to it. For a moment he had to wonder where Sarah would have learned this considering she lived underground and as far as he knew was a complete novice as far as these sort of things were concerned. Had that just been an act before? A rather awkward thought came to him of Marrow peering through the grating of a storm drain in central park while some prostitute does her job for whatever the going rate was. The idea of newly teenaged girl spying on something like that made him suppress the entire thought as quickly as he could and the light licking of Sarah aided in that immensely. As the sensations from the Morlock girl's ministrations began to make coherent thought difficult he decided that in the end it didn't matter where she learned how to do what she was doing. As she took him into her mouth and went to work sliding her tongue around, he came to the conclusion that while she might have gotten the general motions down pat her knowledge was definitely not gained from firsthand experience. Her motions lacked a certain individual style that only came from a great deal of experience in the field but, at the same time, she wasn't completely without talent. With a little bit of practice he could see her becoming good enough to satisfy just about any man on the planet. Any further thought on the subject quickly becoming difficult as Sarah quickened her pace, obviously desiring to get to the finale sooner rather than later. For a moment he wondered if he should ask Betsy to give Marrow some pointers but this proved to be the imagery that broke the camel's back.

"OOOHHHH SHHHIIIIIITTTTTT!" He yelled as he reached the finale of her performance.

As he came down off his pleasure high, he became aware that unlike the other ladies, Sarah hadn't kept her mouth in place. Instead she had pulled back after the initial bit and seemed to be sloshing it around in her mouth as though trying to determine whether or not she liked it. Yet another sign that she'd never done this before and while he would not claim to ever be able to understand the female mind, he supposed that something like this would be an odd experience. Plus there was that whole 'swallow v. spit' thing they probably had to consider. In the end, though, the bone girl decided on the former but that could have to do with the lack of a suitable place to spit into. With that done he figured it was time for him to take the initiative since it was only basic logic to repay someone for making you feel good. Sitting up so that they were once again eye to eye, he reached out tentatively with his right hand and when he met with no opposition began to massage Sarah's lacey bra encased chest. Her gasp followed by moans of pleasure were a good sign that she was enjoying the experience so he brought up his other hand so, with a brief pause in the massaging, he could make things better. With a bit of a bounce, her endowments accepted their freedom and, while some bone growths beneath them made them look a little odd, he thought they only made them look better. It was like framing a picture and, in his opinion, the picture before him was definitely something he could get used to both fully clothed as well as the alternative.

_Well enough blabbing! It's time to get to work._ He thought as moved towards the Morlock girl's globes and began to stimulate them as best he could.

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_**The Living Room of the X-Mansion, Mid-Morning, Logan's P.O.V**_

It had been a long while since he'd last been at the mansion and, when he'd entered, he'd found the place to be pretty much the way he left except from a part of the floor he didn't remember needing repairs. Still, he'd taken it to mean that there'd been something of a dust up while he'd been away but, since he'd already met Storm and she didn't seem all that agitated, he took that to mean everyone else was alright too. After grabbing a brewski from the fridge, he plunked himself down in front of the TV so he could get a better grasp of current events since he'd been a bit busy in Mandripoor. What he saw wasn't too interesting aside from the fact that some guy named Osborn, who he last recalled was dead, putting the screws to the webhead. For a moment it made him wonder if he should hop down to NYC and see if he could do something to make the wall crawler's life a little easier but he let the ideas pass without action being taken. He'd just gotten back so he didn't want to leave the others so soon, plus it wasn't like Spider-man was dating someone on the team or that the web slinger was anything more than a fellow costume. With that decision made, he decided to switch to the sports channel to watch a game or to but not five minutes into the game someone entered the room that immediately put him on the defensive.

The Morlock known as Marrow walked into the room.

She was one of the new residents of the mansion and a tentative new recruit to the X-Men, though that was more due to the fact of the team not having much in the way of resources as well as the senior members wanting to keep an eye on the volatile girl.

What had him on the defensive wasn't the teenager's previous bad behavior or the fact that she'd shoved one of her bone blades into his neck. He was used to tough girls with attitudes and only had himself to blame for that class of hard knocks getting out of hand the way it did. He should've known that it'd take more than a beat down from him to get Lady Bonehead to come around to a more productive way of thinking. It was just a sad fact that he was more of a fighter than he was an instructor and it was usually either Jeannie or Cyke who handled that sort of thing. He had treated any past incidents between him and the Morlock girl like water under the proverbial bridge, so that wasn't what had him itching to pop his claws.

It was the fact that she was smiling.

It wasn't a smile of someone who had just finished pestering a hated roommate.

Nor was it the sort of feral grin he'd seen on her face while they'd fought in the make shift Danger Room.

It was a smile he usually attributed to Jubilee on a sugar high after an evening of partying and dancing with some pimple faced kid she suddenly developed a crush on.

In other words she was acting just like a typical teenage girl rather than the Morlock girl with a chip on her shoulder the size of Mouth Saint Helen and a beef with Ororo. Watching her walk…no make that **bounce**…across the room he had to wonder what the hell she wanted. He soon had his answer when she picked up the morning paper that someone had left on the coffee table before going back the way she came with no indication that she had even noticed he was there. This got a raised eyebrow from and started a debate as to whether he should finish his beer or go looking for Storm to get the full details on what had happened since he'd left. With the bone girl acting distinctly out of character and the hole that was under repair it was possible that the two were related somehow. In the end he simply shrugged and took another chug of booze before resuming his watching of the football game on the television.

_She doesn't seem to be hurting anyone so whatever happened can wait 'til later. _He thought watching as a receiver got tackled to the ground.

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_**Late Afternoon, Kitchen, X-Mansion, Cecilia's P.O.V**_

"Well, ladies, what's the verdict?" Cecilia asked the gathered ladies of the X-Mansion that had partaken of one Xander Harris in nights past, "Does the boy have skills or what?"

It had been by unofficial consensus by all five ladies that once the last of them received the counteragent from Xander, they'd get back together for some girl talk if there was anything worth talking about. Judging by the smiles and fond looks of remembrance on the faces of the other four ladies, it was quite obvious that none of them had been disappointed by their nighttime adventures with the young man. While she would admit that her threesome with Xander and Betsy had introduced her to some new methods of pleasuring that she had either never heard of or had used on her before, it hadn't deterred the smile that blossomed on her face as she remembered the events of that night. The boy had stamina, skill and, just like Psylocke had told her when they'd sent the young man for breakfast, all he'd need was a few pointers in order to become a great lover. Not that she was planning on going through a repeat of that night since the issue of dragon pheromones had been safely dealt with. She was, after all, not one of those women who specifically sought out younger men to date and then later bed.

_Of course if some night I get the itch and he doesn't have a girl, I might be willing to take him up on a night cap offer._ She thought as the rest of the ladies came out of their fond memories.

"I found him to be rather… inventive during the night we shared together." Storm replied, looking a bit awkward speaking of her screwing session to others, "Whatever young women he chooses to marry will most certainly find him satisfactory in the bedroom."

"Too right, darling! Stamina and a quick reload time would be enough to catch the interest of most ladies but the Xan-man has some natural talent in the bedroom." Betsy declared licking her lips as she began to feel a little peckish for some man meat, "Give me a month or two with him and Scott might have to start coming up with new ways to keep Jean faithful!"

"Betsy!!" Ororo exclaimed with disapproval although the slight smirk threatening to show up on her face ruined the effect of her tone.

"While I will not be so base in my words as Braddock, I too found his abilities to be respectable." Deathbird said with her usual arrogance and condescension, "He required little direction from me once the warm up was over with."

Considering the fact that the bird woman was loathe to say anything positive about beings not a part of the Shi'ar Empire, it was quite the compliment she gave Xander just now. Not that she disagreed with it or anything, but rather that it implied that the winged woman enjoyed herself far more than she was letting on. Considering the noises she made that night, the Puerto Rican doctor didn't know who Deathbird thought she was fooling by making it look like Harris just barely managed to satisfy her.

"Well, I have no complaints about him." She said, putting forth her own opinion about how Xander was with the love making, "Boy had staying power and didn't raise a stink when Betsy decided to get a bit 'unconventional', so I'd have to say A+ as far as I'm concerned."

That left only one person who hadn't given her opinion of the golden-eyed young man but, judging by the 'do not even think about it' glare Marrow was sending everyone who looked at her, it was unlikely they'd get much out of her. Still, she knew that some of the ladies thought there were the beginnings of a romantic relationship between the tough skinned teenager and Xander. After all, for the rest of them Xander pretty much just showed up at the appropriate time and place before getting down to business but for Marrow he'd gone much further. A romantic setting, a cooked meal and a bed that looked like it could have come out of some fairy tale princess' room definitely made it clear that the redhead meant something to the pseudo-Power Ranger. That or the guy thought that the special treatment might take the edge off of the Morlock and make her a little more well mannered, but if that was his goal she didn't think it'd work. The girl had over ten years of bad living underneath NYC, clawing for survival and generally getting ever more bitter towards non-Morlocks with every day that passed. It'd take more than one good ride on the Xander Express to take the chip off the bone girl's shoulder.

"So, it's agreed then?" Betsy said with a rather naughty look on her face, "Orgy at the cabin? B.Y.O.T?"

"B.Y.O.T?" She asked wondering and somewhat fearing what Psylocke was thinking.

"Bring Your Own Toy, of course!" Betsy said with a slight chuckle that was more due the reactions on everyone else's faces than to imply that she wasn't serious about her proposal of a six person orgy.

Naturally she was expecting that everyone but Betsy would oppose the idea or at least politely decline but as the seconds ticked by with no rejection of the idea, she had to wonder if there weren't still some dragon pheromones in their bodies. After all, prior to the whole mess with the pheromones, they had all treated Xander as a friend and fellow mansion resident. Could one night of sexual bliss have changed their opinion of him this much? Or was it simply that they thought this whole episode with Xander's mating season needed a proper finale that only an orgy could meet? Looking at Betsy, she knew that the Brit had no qualms whatsoever of getting naked around the rest of them or sharing Xander for yet another night of erotic excitement. Deathbird looked offended by the idea but, at the same time, didn't give voice to her opinion making one think that her insulted look was only skin deep. Storm, naturally, was doing her best to look like the regal queen she often did and was no doubt reminding herself of how sinful it'd be to partake of what Xander had to offer when there was no need with the pheromones gone. The twinkle in her blue, cat-like eyes, though, told a different story. As for Marrow…well…there was that usual attitude she generally wore on her face every time they saw her but a slight chewing of the lower lip led her to believe that the girl was sorely tempted to agree to the proposal if only for another night of pleasure.

"Assuming we all agree here, who's going to approach Xander with the idea?" She asked, pointing out a potential flaw in the whole orgy idea, "He might've been willing to do a one night stand with all of us because of the pheromones but with them gone he might have issues with your idea, Betsy."

"Leave him to me, Cecilia." Elizabeth Braddock said with a cunning and lustful smile on her face, "If sound logic doesn't convince him, perhaps a few ideas telepathically dropped into his mind will bring him around to my way of thinking. Heheheheheh."

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_**Xander's Room, X-Mansion, Same Time, Xander's P.O.V**_

For a moment a serious chill ran up and down his spine causing him to look about the room for the cause but he saw nothing in his room that shouldn't be there.

But then why did he suddenly feel the urge to fly **FAR** away from here as fast as he could?

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_**The Trees Along the Edge of the Xavier Estate, Night**_

_It is time to make my report to Captain Yuriko._ Thought the young woman clad in a small bathrobe-like kimono and gear consistent with a female ninja.

Dropping down from the tree branch that she had been crouched upon, she returned her magically enhanced binoculars to their place within her kimono and moved deeper into the forest. It had been her duty, ever since Lord Kung Lung's successor had made himself known to them, to watch him and only appear before him under certain extreme circumstances. She had already been chastised for dispatching the foul assassin that had dared to make an attempt on the life of one whom she believed the Heir saw as a sister of the heart. It had only been her years of loyal service to the royal guard and the legacy of her father that she had been let off so lightly as well as permitted to resume her duties monitoring the Heir. That had been a while ago and, truth be told, she had been a bit bored up until a week or two ago when she'd seen the signs that the successor to Lord Kung Lung had entered his first mating season. This had caused quite the uproar back home as none had expected it to begin so soon but, in the end, she had been ordered to keep a close eye on all the women the Heir bedded both before and after. As she had been ordered so, she had done but, sadly, the various Sight spells had been inconclusive in determining whether or not one of the ladies had successfully established a mating bond with Kung Lung's successor. There were generally five things to look for to conclusively prove that the mating bond had been established and, of the five women she'd been able to confirm as having intimate contact with the Heir, only two of them had three of the five. With the number of those affected by Kung Lung's successor all finished receiving her future Lord's blessing, it was time to make her report.

Using the unique gifts of her blood, she willed one of her fingernails to transform into a talon before piercing the palm of her left hand. Using her life's blood to write, she began to draw a symbol of communication among her people then taking a deep breath blew a small ball of flame from her mouth onto the marking setting it ablaze. Thus did a small plume of smoke begin to rise into the air but, unlike what most might expect, the fire didn't harm a single blade of grass or burn anything save the blood that formed the symbol. It took less than five seconds for the spell to take effect and then she was looking at the smoky head of her superior officer, Captain Yuriko Sato.

"What do you have to report, Lieutenant?" Asked Yuriko, the voice coming from the head of black smoke.

"Based on my close observations of the Xavier Institute, Captain, I believe the Heir's first mating season has concluded without incident." She replied in an official manner treating her superior with all the required respect, "I've examined all five with the means provided but only two of the women show three of the five signs of the mating bond with the remaining three showing only one or two."

"What of the one identified as the mutant Rogue? Did she not participate?" Asked Captain Sato with some puzzlement.

"From what I have observed and learned, it would appear that the mutant Rogue possesses an ability which makes skin-to-skin contact with anyone dangerous." She replied, recalling her information gathering days, "It is unknown whether or not the Heir would be immune to her power or not but, given the abilities he has displayed thus far, it is unlikely that he would remain unharmed by intimate contact with her."

The smoky head of her superior officer seemed to consider the information for a time before looking back up at her.

"Very well. Continue with your surveillance of the Heir but also pay close attention to the two women who came closest to being a conclusive match for the mating bond." Captain Sato said with all the authority of her rank, "Should one or both of them manifest the remaining two signs of the mating bond, they will be his mate and our Lady. Understood?"

"Hai!" She replied with a sharp nod showing her commitment to her mission.

"May his eyes watch over you, Setsuko." Captain Sato said as the communication spell began to dissipate.

"And you, Captain Sato." She said as she extinguished the flames before her and poured a potion on what remained of the symbol so that all traces of it would be eradicated.

With the signs of her presence removed, she turned to return to her nighttime observation post where she would have the best view for observing her future Lord.

_I wonder if he'll leave the curtains open this time? _She thought with a slight blush on her cheeks.

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_**Unknown Location, The Same Night**_

_Interesting. The plot thickens._ He thought as he turned away from the vast array of video screens that comprised his surveillance network.

It had been a mere whim that had caused him to place various surveillance devices within the home of the X-Men and, in the beginning, he had not thought that they would last for very long. He had known that the only reason why he had been able to place them there in the first place was because they had been without so much as a scrap of technology. From the mundane to that which they had been given by the Shi'ar, it had all been taken away by the man known as Bastion and the forces of Operation Zero Tolerance that were his to command. With all devices capable of detecting his own gone, he was free to observe his foes without too much concern, although he had taken some precautions to ensure that those possessing keen senses wouldn't discover his instruments. Still, he had known that they would eventually be discovered as the X-Men replaced what they had lost and, at the time, had been content to observe only until his devices were found. Now, though, it would seem he had a reason to 'go the extra mile' as it were for he had discovered a most unique phenomena in one of the newest arrivals to the Xavier Institute. While the doctor, the maggot boy, the Morlock and the Shi'ar regent were amusing, it was the one known as Xander Harris which held his attention the most. He was no mutant, the sensors in his surveillance devices confirmed that for him, but he possessed power equal to an Omega class mutant and that intrigued him. When the possibility of him being a mutant was eliminated, he used other methods to compare him to the superhuman populace but that, too, turned out to be a dead end. It was when he attempted to determine if the boy's powers were supernatural in nature that he found the truth and while there existed virtually no reference material on the Black Dragon King, Kung Lung, that only intrigued him more. An ancient entity of such power that virtually all record of him was obliterated from the face of the planet as well as a few neighboring dimensions.

It was this that motivated him to increase the amount of resources he was using to keep tabs on the X-Men and it was more than enough to persuade him to forgive the teenager for his past interference in his plans. All in all the best it could be called would be a minor setback and, like all men of vision, he had the wisdom to have a few contingency plans ready for use just in case something of this nature occurred. It would mean his plans for his old acquaintance would have to be put off a few months but patience was a thing he excelled at.

As of this moment, he now had a fair grasp of what Xander Harris could do at his current level and, using what information he'd been able to obtain, had a few ideas of where the metaphorical roof was for the teenager. It would be interesting to see whether or not his projections were accurate or not. This latest development, though, sparked the question in his mind 'what sort of children would this young man help bring into this world?' and the possibilities fascinated him like only two before had. Past mythology was full of instances in which gods and goddesses had romantic encounters with mortals producing demigods like Hercules as well as dozens of others worldwide. The powers that these children developed varied from person to person but it wasn't uncommon for those powers to have ties to those attributes that their divine parent possessed. However, upon reviewing his data of known demigods, he had nothing as far as those born in recent decades nor did he know what would happen if a god were to have a child with a mortal possessing super powers. True, there were couples between mutants and those who had been seen as gods or goddesses by the masses but none quite fit in the same category as Kung Lung. The possible combinations of young Alexander Harris and the various super powered women of the planet Earth were numerous indeed and the potential results his mind was coming up with virtually decided the matter for him.

Walking over to his communications console, he typed in commands for his chosen operative to be notified that he wished to speak with her. The time and place had already been established, leaving only the method of persuasion up to him but, fortunately, this time it would not require him to use heavy handed methods. The young woman was already quite in his debt already and would see this as another opportunity to free herself from his control forever.

Foolish girl.

With that done, he left the room to go to his equipment cache to choose just the right method for getting the samples he desired. While he would be pleased if he could acquire the original specimen for study, he knew too little about the young man's powers and just how varied they were. He very much doubted that Alexander himself knew the extent of what he was capable of and that would mean a volatile chaos factor would be included in any attempt to abduct him. It would be far easier to simply gather the requisite biological samples from the boy and experiment on them instead. If it became necessary to have a complete specimen to work with, he could always clone Harris, he'd done it before, and get what he needed that way. While there was some question as to whether or not the supernatural abilities would carry over into the clone, he was confident that the powers had sufficient genetic ties that he could make do with the copy.

If it turned out that he did indeed need Mr. Harris… well… that would require some planning but that was another thing he excelled at.

_While it is true that I usually prefer to focus my efforts on mutant genetics, this young man has ensnared my interest._ He thought as the door to his destination came into sight, _Besides, everyone needs a hobby._

With those thoughts, the inhuman being let a pale smile grow onto his face and that did not bode well for the young man known as Alexander LaVelle Harris. Robert Windsor, Arnold Bocklin and Michael Milbury are but a few of the names he had gone by over the in decades past but there is one name that all who have encountered him feel suits him best.

Mister Sinister.

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	24. A Mystery and an Airplane

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the copyrighted material featured herein. They are the property of their original creators and associated companies. I make no money off of this fanfic whatsoever. I write for my own personal enjoyment and for those that like to read my works of fan fiction.

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_**One Week Later, A Network of Tunnels Beneath Washington D.C, Morning, Xander's P.O.V**_

_Note to self: NEVER do the tourist thing with these guys again!_ Xander thought as he dodged what must have been the hundredth laser blast in the last hour.

It was a week since **that** night (he shuddered although whether it was from fear or pleasure, he couldn't say) and the X-Men had asked him to go with them to Washington. When he'd asked why, they'd just said that they were meeting with an old friend of theirs that had sent a message to them requesting their presence ASAP. The guy was apparently some sort of NASA egghead who'd worked with the team of mutants from time to time to avert some calamity or disaster that both sides had gotten dragged into. This guy was also one of the few normal humans in a position of power that the inhabitants of the X-mansion felt they could trust. When he asked them why his presence would be needed, they'd gone on to list his various skills and abilities as well as the different times he'd helped them out of a jam.

He, of course, had seen right through this.

The real reason turned out to be something significantly more practical and could be summed up in a single word: Rogue. While she was nearing the end of the two week period that Dr. Strange had said her withdrawal symptoms would last, it wasn't the time of relief that most people would think it'd be. Instead of going out like a sheep, it was ending with the southern belle acting like a lion with a serious toothache that flared up from time to time. One moment she could be lethargic and content to just lay on the couch watching TV and other times she gave those around her a tongue lashing that would have impressed Queen C before flying off to the nearby mountains. They presumed that she went there to pound some stone into fine powder, based on the sounds of thunder that reached the mansion when there was not a single cloud in the sky. With those sorts of extremes being brought into play off and on, it was safe to say that everyone had been on their toes around the skunk-haired woman. All it took was one word that was capable of being misinterpreted to set the beautiful woman off, much to the sorrow of any furniture that happened to be nearby. About the only time when the residents could be assured that the chances of an outburst were reduced to near zero was (surprise, surprise) when he was around. Beast hypothesized that since the dragon king pheromones were designed to make the super ladies interested in him, then his presence took the edge off of the imbalance that was making Rogue act like the living, ticking time bomb. While this made it clear why he was being brought along as a package deal with the flyer, he was a bit curious as to why they were taking Rogue along on a mission while she was so out of sorts.

They used quite a few politically correct words and sugarcoated phrases, but the gist of things was that Rogue had forcibly placed herself on the mission and the others didn't want to risk the woman tearing down the mansion in a rage if they left her behind. Therefore, in order to make sure their mission went smoothly and without too many incidents, he was asked to come along and, not wanting to cause his roommates problems so soon after they'd recovered from his 'condition', he had agreed.

Now, though, he was beginning to wonder if it'd have been less trouble to simply come up with a suitable excuse not to go with them.

After a bit of chatting, he knew why they were approaching the Pentagon from the tunnels below and he knew why the man they were going to meet couldn't shut down the defenses in those tunnels to let them pass unharmed. Being both mutants and X-Men, they couldn't hope to even approach the building from the surface without being surrounded by heavily armed personnel and perhaps giving away the purpose for their visit in the process. Also, while it appeared as though no one was officially monitoring the status of these tunnel defenses, it was highly unlikely that the people above them would be completely oblivious to one of their defenses going offline for any reason. It would also likely get Corbeau into trouble if he used his connections and authorization to shut down the defenses. Not something that would be good for a longtime friend of the X-Men who had helped them in the past and could help them in the future if he retained his position. Still, he wasn't liking having to run a noisy gauntlet just to talk to someone who might have important info to pass on.

"Anybody else feel like their life's gone in the toilet?" Asked Wolverine as he used his bone claws to slice through yet another automated laser turret.

"Ha Ha. Half psycho killer, half comedian," Marrow said sarcastically as she used the canucklehead as a springboard to take out another weapon with one of her bones. "You're good, Wolverine."

"Maybe you're used ta sewers, Marrow, but put a sock in it or I'll be tempted to pull all o' yer bones outta ya!" Logan sent back, still not completely on good terms with the Morlock.

"Seems awfully suspicious, gang, that the Pentagon didn't close off these access tunnels a long time ago." Rogue mentioned with a bit of irritation in her voice as use threw a piece of the tunnel at a cluster of shock cannons, "We should've known we were walking into a trap!"

Judging from that comment, it was safe to say that Rogue's lingering withdrawal symptoms now included a more jaded or negative view of people outside a closely knit group. He was sure that if she'd been completely in her right mind, she'd see that Corbeau didn't lure them into a trap and that this was just part of the price for getting to see him. Still, at least she wasn't tearing through this place like a bull in a china shop because, if that had been the case, the woman'd likely have brought the entire tunnel down on their heads, unintentionally or not.

"Storm an' I go back a long way with Peter Corbeau, darlin'." Logan stated, warning her away from her current train of thought, "Long before you happened on the scene. Time was he helped save our lives. He was willin' ta risk his own hide by meetin' with us because he thought somethin' real bad was going down an' that only the X-Men could stop it. He wouldn't betray us. I'd stake my life on it."

_Good enough for me._ He thought as he saw the light at the end of the literal tunnel, _If Wolverine says this Corbeau guy is on the side of the angels, then it's definitely the case since Mr. Claws doesn't strike me as the sort of person to give trust easily. _

"We have all done that, Logan, but his attempt to aid us may have been uncovered." Storm said, trying to keep a potential confrontation from happening, "So let us make short work of these temporary obstacles."

Brave words.

Still, he could both see and smell signs of Ororo's claustrophobia creeping out of the cracks in her otherwise regal visage. No one had said anything to him about it but, from the moment they'd entered the tunnels twenty blocks away from the Pentagon, there'd had been signs for those with the eyes to see them as well as a nose to pick up extra info. It didn't take much to put two and two together but, since none of the others were making a big deal of it, he didn't either. He was sure that if it was a big enough problem to compromise the safety of the team, Storm would remove herself immediately.

"Set up or not, he still marked the spot." Sarah said pointing to a wooden door with a X painted on it in red, "Still, something's not right when the Pentagon is smart enough to install lasers but too cocky to install anything other than a rusty lock I can break with a bone shard."

"Personally, I blame it on budget cuts." He said as he followed the others through the open door, "You can only hide so many black book projects in the national budget before you have to start cutting corners somewhere. Obviously this is one of the corners that was cut."

Wolverine snorted at this but he knew that the feral mutant wasn't directing this at him but rather the military men above them. As they proceeded down the long forgotten tunnel to where they'd be able to reach Corbeau's office, he had to wonder what the big reveal would be about. He'd heard stories of past Pentagon-related problems that the X-Men had dealt with and, if the military institution ran true to form, then a big fight would approaching them on swift wings. Ten minutes later they reached the air vent that was going to be used so they could talk to Corbeau without appearing on the security cameras that were in place at three different points in the room. However, judging from the number of different sound sources he was picking up, it looked like Murphy had gotten there before them. Silently they approached the vent and, once all were close enough, they quieted down so they could overhear what the military personnel moving about Corbeau's office had to say.

"…received a call saying Doctor Corbeau was—" said a man who was clearly the man in charge of the room at the moment.

"Gone, sir." Stated the number two guy in the messed up office.

"What do you mean, 'gone'? This is the Pentagon for pity's sake! Details!"

"What you're looking at is the way we found it," Explained a third man, who was examining a large hole in the floor that looked like it was made none too gently or efficiently. "Near as we can tell, this happened within the last day or so."

"Day? What kind of specificity is that?!" Roared the officer in charge of the scene, "Corbeau was overseeing a highly sensitive project. He vanishes without a trace, by force, from the most secure facility in the world, and all you can say is that it happened in the last 'day or so'? Who is responsible?"

"Security monitors revealed nothing." Replied the number two guy in charge, "The only thing we've found was his memo recorder. Whoever took him was either very sloppy or extremely clever. The last audible phrase on it was this…"

"—the X-Men?! NO! You can't b—" was all that could be made out from the recorder after the second in command pressed the play button.

The confusion and suspicion wasn't hard to feel at this news because, while he hadn't been with the X-Men long, he knew two things after hearing that bit of audio. One was that the X-Men didn't abduct Corbeau as the tape implied. It wasn't their M.O and he'd been around the mansion long enough to know that none of them had been out of the mansion within the last week and certainly no covert missions had been launched. He slept less than four hours a night now so he was awake enough of the time that his enhanced senses would have picked up on them leaving. Even with their hand-me-down equipment from Excalibur, they didn't have anything they could have used to sneak out with. So either the team was keeping something from him and were real good at playing dumb or someone was impersonating the X-Men for the purpose of kidnapping Corbeau.

Not good.

"Let's get goin'." Logan said as he began to make his way back the way they came.

"Shouldn't we stick around to see what else they dig up?" He asked, a little puzzled by the swift departure from a potential source of information.

"Nope." Was all Logan said as the feral mutant continued to head down the long forgotten hallway to the door they'd passed through not too long ago.

Looking to the others, he saw half of them follow suit while the newer ones simply shrugged and then did the same.

_Well I've trusted psycho midget this far…_he thought as he started walking down with the rest of the group.

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_**The Lincoln Memorial, Washington, D.C, Three Hours Later, Wolverine's P.O.V**_

_Hope this doesn't take too long. _Logan thought as he looked about the roped off territory of the Lincoln Memorial, _Stripes doesn't look like she'll be keeping an even head on for much longer._

It had been a calculated risk when both he and 'Ro decided to give into Rogues demand to come along on this mission, but if Val didn't show up within the next ten to fifteen minutes, he was going to ask Dragon Knight to take her out of the area. It wasn't Harris' official codename yet but him and Storm figured it was only a matter of time before the kid signed on as an X-Man officially. True, he wasn't a mutant, but that didn't matter to them. He was a friend and he'd proven himself to be a comrade time and time again. That was more than enough to get him a spot on the team and now all that was left was for him to accept the badge and get involved in the group training sessions in their improvised Danger Room. The only thing he could figure was keeping Xander from doing it was that the boy figured if he joined the new team he'd be leaving his old gang behind. Loyalty. That was the one thing Harris had in spades. So much so that it'd take something pretty drastic to make him turn his back on someone after he'd gotten attached to them. The more time he spent with someone, the more he was loyal to them and the more unlikely it became that he'd ever betray them. That summed up a large part of who Xander Harris was. As soon as the kid's bond to the X-Men grew strong enough, it'd be time to pass him the paperwork for his John Hancock.

Catching a scent on the air, he looked to the right and saw one Valerie Cooper approaching the steps of the Memorial, all dressed up in her suit with a briefcase in hand. It'd taken her almost an hour to get to the Memorial since they contacted her but he wasn't about to raise a stink over things. He knew the risks that Val was taking speaking to them and how much time it took to shake off any shadows so this little meeting could be kept private. Rogue, on the other hand, had found a target for her current restlessness.

Better Val than him.

"We were startin' to think you weren't comin'." Rogue said, standing in front of Marrow, who looked read to pounce in an instant.

"You called. I told you I'd be here. I'm here." Val said, not sounding sorry in the least, "The Memorial's closed for cleaning, and the guards are on **my** payroll. We couldn't be more alone. Which is lucky for you as it seems the entire executive branch of the U.S government is looking for the X-Men."

"The message on Dr. Corbeau's recorder naming us?" Ororo asked to confirm that this was indeed the lead piece of information incriminating them.

"The computerized security systems in Corbeau's wing were fed a digitized video loop that showed everything to be normal, so no one saw anything but the lab evidence indicates para-human intrusion, and Corbeau's recorder all but seals your warrant. It's weak, but when the seat of power is penetrated so brazenly, panic sets in."

"And how do we know she won't be the one to hand us over? I thought you said she's the one who snatched your beloved Professor X?" Marrow asked, rising to her feet with a sharp piece of bone in her hand, "I say we gut her."

"If this was a trap, I'd be tempted to agree with you, Marrow." Harris said moving from the shadows of the statue of Lincoln where he'd been all but invisible thanks to his dark armor, "But both eyes and nose says that she's the real deal and not some fake sent in place of the actual Val Cooper. No one capable of betrayal would put themselves within killing range of the people she plans on stabbing in the back."

"Maybe, but I'd still like to hear from her where she stands on things." Rogue said, sounding a bit more willing to talk rather than fight.

"Don't worry, Rogue. I've dealt with Sabertooth up close and personal. A teenage girl with bad piercings doesn't scare me." Val said looking at both Marrow and Xander, "As for Xavier… as the world's foremost expert on genetic mutation, he went into custody voluntarily to study the Onslaught phenomena. I didn't know he was missing until recently when I was contacted by Robert Kelly. And as for you, for some reason the people who would most want your hides are more interested in something called the 'benassi rocket' set for a Cape Citadel launch tomorrow."

"Meaning it's got something to do with mutants?" He asked, getting the gist of what was going on forming in his head.

"Apparently. What exactly, I couldn't find out. It's as black as black projects get." Val replied telling the truth about not being able to gather more intel, "But guess which top secret payload the missing Dr. Corbeau was project leader on before he requested and received a transfer recently?"

"Corbeau wanted to warn us about something and needed to put some distance between him and the black book project to do it. We gotta get down to the cape and see what's in the payload." He said, taking a puff of his cigar before continuing, "Bad mojo, ain't it, folks. That this is all goin' down on the anniversary of Magneto's first strike?"

"Not that I doubt your abilities, Wolverine, it's always quality over quantity, but there don't seem to be very many of you for an all-out assault." Val said, fishing for info on Harris as well as the current state of the X-Men.

"It'll be enough. Dragon Knight here's got a few tricks that can make up for the power difference," He said pointing his thumb at Xander and picking up on the boy's almost concealed growl of annoyance. "'Course, we're a little short on long-range transportation these days, what with Bastion stripping our place clean. Most everything's up and running but not our wings."

While not entirely true, they didn't have Betsy's long-range shadow-porting powers this time around. Somehow Warren had gotten wind of Psylocke's condition and how Xander was related to it. It hadn't been a pretty meeting. Worthington had flown back from Alaska where he'd been spending time with Cyke and, as soon as he stepped in the door, he went right for the person he had the most reason to pick a fight with. Harris hadn't done anything to excuse what had happened and he hadn't tried to make himself sound like some Casanova either. He just laid it all out from beginning to end without any details cut out, even if this put him in a questionable light. Wings still hadn't taken it well and, when things had deteriorated into a brawl, it'd been Betsy who'd broken things up with a little precision and some potent blows. Warren, of course, had immediately accused her of siding with Harris and then ridiculed her on even thinking about getting into a relationship with someone easily ten years younger than her.

Proof enough even the smooth ones can put their foot in it from time to time.

With words and phrases that had brought a smile to his face, Elisabeth Braddock had verbally torn the founding X-Man a new one, pointing out precisely where Angel was making an ass of himself by assuming. She made it clear she considered Xander a friend and nothing more. She pointed out that even if she did want to make it something more, it was no business of his since it was her choice to make. Then she stormed out of the room, saying that they'd talk once he'd cleared his head of any more bullshit ideas and then decide if their relationship had gone from 'us' to 'him and her'. Wings did the same a minute later and so now he was going to see if Val would be willing to put up some transport for them to use to get down to Florida.

"Here, Storm. This is an encrypted cell-phone." Val said, passing over what looked like an ordinary cell phone, "I'll pull some strings for some kind of transport and contact you with the details."

"Any why would you do that?" Marrow asked, not sounding like she'd let Val just walk out of there.

"Because when it comes to mutants and humans, there aren't two sides, there's one." Val replied, tossing something at Marrow only for it to be caught by Harris before it hit the Morlock, "Catch. You might want to monitor this for special reports. The situation brewing at the Cape is volatile. Lots of civilians upset over the rocket's nuclear propulsion system. Riots are imminent."

_Great. Walking into a tinder box, just waiting for Murphy to light a match._ He thought, not crazy about the idea of walking into a mess in the making.

"Whatever Corbeau wanted you for, it almost certainly had something to do with this launch. If someone kidnapped him, that did, too. Something rotten's afoot." Val said as she began to walk away, "I know you're innocent, but I'm a definite minority. I wish you well. I'll call for you once I've arranged for a plane."

Waiting until Cooper was out of hearing range, he decided it'd be best to sum up everything before moving onto the planning stage. He had his own plans but it never hurt to hear what the peanut gallery had to say.

"We got fake X-Men, rockets with mysterious mutant payloads and five of us to handle it all." He said before turning to the more leadership-like member of the group, "What's out next more, Ororo?"

"For the moment, we give Valerie some time to fulfill her promise. Then, we will follow the trail." Storm replied, being a bit vague in the plan department.

"So flying by the seat of our pants as usual? Great!" Rogue said before walking away in a definite foul mood.

Xander soon followed her, no doubt to try and disperse the storm cloud over the southern woman's head, and Marrow wasn't far behind. Not that the Morlock probably cared about Rogue all that much but, unless his nose was wrong, something **very** unlikely, Sarah was seriously interested in the Power Ranger poser. Probably the only reason she wasn't officially putting the moves on him was due to a distinct lack of knowledge in how to put the moves on him. Living in the tunnels as a Morlock didn't exactly give the bone girl a lot of examples to draw from, so she was probably trying to come up with something on her own only to come up blank more often than not. Could get messy if things go the wrong way, but he wasn't too worried. Dragon Knight's healing ability was almost as good as his, so the odds of Marrow killing him were slim and the boy'd recover quick enough from everything else.

Might make for good entertainment, too.

"What is happening here, old friend?" Ororo asked, sounding a bit lost amidst the recent changes to her world, "Why do I feel to the depths of my soul that more than ever before we are utterly alone in our struggle?"

"We ain't alone, 'Ro." He said looking her right in the eye as he spoke, "We got each other. It may not seem like much, but it's always been enough in the past. And it'll be enough now. Plus we're stronger now than before with two new people on the roster."

He was gratified to see a small smile of hope appear on Storm's face. She was the real leader of this team, with him just being the number two guy on the list. If she fell apart or got all morose, then things'd get complicated and he didn't it when it got like that.

"What I'm worried about is the group we left back at the Mansion. Bishop, Gambit, Ceclia, Betsy and Deathbird all under one roof," he said, not liking the scenarios his mind was coming up with right then. "Three volatile people with only two levelheaded ones to keep the peace. Here's hoping Colossus, Kitty and the elf get there soon or else they're goin' ta need hotel rooms by nightfall."

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_**X-Mansion, Salem Center, New York, Forty Minutes Outside of Manhattan, Deathbird's P.O.V**_

_I despise this world. _Deathbird thought, sitting on the roof of the mansion looking up at the sky despite the fact that the sun made seeing the stars almost impossible, _I shall have to begin making arrangements to leave soon. With my future consort, of course._

Yes.

While her time hadn't been an entire waste there, she was growing weary of the **primitive** nature of the living conditions and was becoming concerned about the state of her territory. Ver'casai was a competent subordinate but one of the secret reasons she'd chosen her was because of the warrior's lack of ambition. While a competent subordinate was the primary thing she required, it was also wise to make sure that the subordinate didn't have any delusions of advancement creeping around inside of their heads. Whether this meant manipulating events to crush any kernel of ambition in the candidate's head or simply making the person so loyal to her and only her that the very concept of betrayal would break the potential's mind, Ver'casai was the only one to meet the necessary skill standards and survive the careful management of her experiences to maximize loyalty while minimizing plans for the future. Still, as the humans were fond of saying, 'the devil makes work for idle hands' and she had no doubt that without her presence to reinforce the warrior's conditioning, it'd only be a matter of time before something went wrong. The only problem was that while the X-Men had inherited some **slightly** advanced technology, at least when compared to everything else on this miserable mudball, none of it was communication technology.

_Given the state of the Empire after the Phalanx invasion, the odds of my weak sister sending a communications team out this way is remote at best._ She thought hearing the sounds of an approaching terran vehicle, _Especially with the stargate obliterated by that unknown spaceship. Only a select few craft are capable of reaching Earth without it and most of them are being repaired with the rest no doubt being put to work delivering supplies to recovering planets. If I want to send word back home, I will have to seek more unorthadox methods._

Seeing a car pass through the gates, she realized that the mansion now had guests and, thanks to her people's avian ancestry, her eyes were immediately able to identify the X-Men Colossus and Nightcrawler. She had overheard in passing that they were going to be rejoining the main team after their failed experimental team Excalibur disbanded, but the information she had put them arriving a week from now. Something must have happened. Rather than confronting them herself, she took to the air and flew to the kitchen entrance to the mansion to inform Bishop of their arrival. While a tad too lacking in the emotional area, he was efficient enough at getting information from a subject that an interrogation from him would gain her data faster. Landing with grace and entering the kitchen, she found the dark skinned mutant right where he'd been when she'd last seen him: revising the defensive layout of the estate to compensate for the lack of technology. Ever the soldier, the man had been spending every free moment since they'd received the tech from Excalibur making sure that the defenses were as good as they could be with the limited resources they had. While she could care less if the human worked himself into oblivion, it was time to divert his attention towards something a little more important.

"We have guests, Colossus and Nightcrawler. They seemed concerned about something." She said maintaining her aura of 'I could care less but you might', "You should see what they want."

All she got in response was a raised eyebrow as the muscled man rose to his feet and began walking for the front door of the mansion. Waiting a good three to four minutes before following, she arrived just in time to hear the conversation start.

"Colossus. Kurt. We weren't expecting you for another week." Bishop said with his typical bluntness, "Did something happen? Where's Shadowcat?"

"While I'd like to say that we decided to cut our trip short, I'm afraid that things are more serious." Kurt replied, looking distressed at the mention of the mutant Shadowcat, "Our cruise ship was attacked a couple of days ago and Kitty was abducted by a group calling themselves…the X-Men."

"What?!" Bishop exclaimed before getting himself back under control, "Explain."

"There were five of them. I didn't recognize any of them." Colossus replied, sounding distracted somewhat, "However they were powerful and, between keeping the other passengers safe and combating them, we were stretched too thin. One of them managed to neutralize Katya's powers and capture her. They were gone by the time that I managed to climb back up to the main deck of the ship."

Fraudulent X-Men?

Not exactly an unusual occurrence, since it was a common enough tactic when attempting to infiltrate an enemy organization. However, based on what she'd heard, the fools who'd attacked the cruise ship hadn't even bothered to alter their appearances to match existing X-Men. Then again, perhaps the purpose of this attack was to sow confusion within the ranks of the genuine X-Men or act as a distraction. Both had possibilities, but without further information she couldn't draw a definitive conclusion.

"This sounds suspiciously like the information I got from Storm a little over an hour ago," Bishop said, stroking his beard in thought. "Apparently a group that Peter Corbeau described as X-Men abducted him from his Pentagon office. The others are heading down to Florida to investigate a possible lead at Cape Citadel."

"Florida is quite a ways away, mein friend. Are there no serviceable aircraft remaining?" Kurt asked, also sounding puzzled at how they were to solve their little transportation problem.

"We may have a solution. We recently discovered where Forge disposed of the original Blackbird and have been working on it down in the hanger ever since." Bishop replied with a ghost of a grin on his face, "However, it is far from being operational at the moment."

"Not a problem, mein herr." Kurt said with a smile that was all confidence, "I was the chief mechanic for the original Blackbird for years. Give me an hour and some equipment and I can have it ready to fly easily."

_It would appear I now have two choices. Either leave with this lot when they go to aide their comrades or become the sole being in this mansion until they return._ She thought with a frown at the two options, _I might as well accompany them. It would relieve my boredom, if nothing else._

"Then I shall make preparations to join you on this journey." She said, stepping forward to let all know she was there, "I grow tired of having to amuse myself in this **primitve** dwelling."

With that she walked away, destined for her room, where she could clad herself in her armor and arm herself with her weapons of choice. While it had been difficult to maintain her Shi'ar equipment, her resourcefulness had been up to the task and so she perceived little in the way if trouble when the battle began. Hopefully these imposter X-Men were as formidable as Colossus and Nightcrawler were making them out to be because if they turned out to be weaklings, she was going to be significantly put out.

Perhaps enough to pummel the two responsible into the nearest hospital if her temperament was foul enough.

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_**In the Skies Approaching Cape Citdel, Two Hours Later, Aboard an Acquired Airplane, Rogue's P.O.V**_

_We better be there soon or ah'm 'liable to kill that bone girl!_ Rogue thought from her position leaning against the wall next to the cockpit entrance.

It had been three and a half hours ago that they'd taken off from the plane that Val had acquired for them and, right at that moment, she was seriously wishing that she'd just flown to Florida under her own power. If it wasn't the cramped space making relaxing difficult, it was the Morlock girl and her clumsy attempts at wooing Xander that made her mood worse with every passing minute. It wasn't that she felt anything other than friendship for the guy, but having reminder after reminder shoved in her face of what she could never have was really getting to her. The others might have thought she'd completely avoided the mansion during the week following the big revelation by Hank and Doc Strange, but the truth of the matter was that she'd been drawn to the place every single time the young man had had a 'session'. She didn't technically see anything until the night involving Marrow, but that had been more than enough to give her seriously bad imaginings. Every time she saw the two of them together, it brought forth images of what she wanted for herself. Not with Xander, but with Remy. So, needless to say, when things got particularly bad she'd flown outta there like a bat outta hell before she did something she'd regret later when she'd cooled down. Now, though, she didn't have anywhere to fly off to and it was getting so unless she had something to pummel and soon she'd rearrange the gal's bones in painful short order.

She got her wish.

Without warning the entire plane began to shake worse than Quicksilver used to on a sugar rush. Things only got worse from there when metal began to tear and electronics began to spark, indicating that the plane was coming apart at the seams at a rapid pace.

"Turbulence!! The whole ship's being pulled apart, nut by bolt!! Everybody hold--!" Wolverine yelled from the cockpit but it quickly became clear that holding onto something would only kill you quicker.

"HOLD ONTO WHAT, HAIRY?! I'M FALLING!!" Marrow yelled as she began to freefall towards the ground below.

"SARAH!" Xander yelled as he quickly grew dragon wings out of the back of his armor before flying down in pursuit of her.

She couldn't help but growl a bit at this as she used her own powers of flight to keep herself afloat and immediately began to look about for the person most likely to be responsible for tearing the plane apart. Given the way everything came apart in neat'n'tidy pieces, it could only be the work of one person and she was looking forward to gettin' some payback after that fiasco in Antarctica. Her mood only soured more when she saw not Magneto flying towards them all, but rather five unknown mutants with the fact that she didn't known them only meaning she didn't have any reason to hold back on them too much.

"Mercury has done his part. Now it is up to us to fulfill the will of the founder! TAKE THEM!" Ordered the one who looked like he was wearing a male version of Jean's Phoenix outfit.

"As you command, Grey King." Responded a female winged woman, who had qualities of both Warren and Mystique in her appearance.

"So says us!" Yelled a fat tub of lard that was probably this group's attempt at a Beast clone.

"The X-Men!" Spoke the second female member of the imposter team.

This statement pissed her off because, while it wasn't always a picnic, being a part of the X-Men was something she could always say she'd been proud of. To hear a bunch of imposters lay a claim to that name was an insult to every authentic member of the team, both past and present. With a scream of anger she flew fists first at the tub of lard, figuring he'd be the one she could pound on the most without getting into trouble with the others. She knew there was a sort of line that the X-Men all stayed on the right side of during a fight, that they never used more force than needed, but in this case she could use the excuse that she was feeling out just how tough the guy was. Slamming into him hard, she began to rain down punches while shrugging off any blows tubby sent back her way as though they were nothing. Oh, they had some power behind them, but she was in such a foul mood that her anger was stronger than the pain she was feeling at the moment.

"Let's see if you're so tough without your powers." Came the voice of the Grey King before a wave of nausea and lightheadedness overcame her.

Pain, fortunately, cleared up both symptoms but not in the way she'd have chosen if she'd been given a choice in the first place. With every blow that connected, it felt like the invulnerability and the strength that had been hers ever since she'd drained Ms. Marvel was being numbed somehow. By the time the punches stopped coming down, she was in free fall with her mind slowly regaining coherency but her powers still felt like they were mostly gone. Even as she tried more and more to fly, her recovering mind told her that she was having no effect on her descent whatsoever. However, when the smell of sulfur and brimstone reached her nose, she knew that help had arrived and she no longer had worry about whether or not her powers were recovered enough to let her survive impact. With the familiar feeling of teleportation, she soon found herself inside the weathered remains of the old Blackbird that the gang had been working on since they'd lifted it out of the estate lake.

"Peter? Is that truly you?" Storm asked as she entered with Marrow, Wolverine and Xander entered the aircraft from the side entry hatch.

"Da. And I am not alone." Colossus said from the pilot's chair.

Before Kurt could put in his two cents, though, two things happened that put the skids on any plans for a solid counterattack. First Storm cried out in pain as the nausea from before returned and the other was the surprise arrival of a superior aircraft that happened to be under the control of the imposter X-Men. In a matter of seconds the old Blackbird, an aircraft that was probably barely air worthy at the moment, was being pelted with energy fire from the enemy craft. She knew that Piotr was doing his best to evade the fire but, considering the condition the Blackbird was in to begin with, that was like expecting an armored tank to evade fire from a fully armed combat helicopter.

A fool's bet if there ever was one.

As the feeling of descent reached her, she knew they were going down and, with over half the team not in the best of condition thanks to the Grey King, it was anyone's guess whether they'd survive a crash landing. Still, the X-Men had always had a strange sort of luck that let them survive just about everything the universe had to throw at them.

They'd survive this to.

They had to.

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_**The Crash Site of the Original Blackbird, Thirty Minutes Later, Xander's P.O.V**_

"Uuuhhhhh! Who ever said 'any landing you can walk away from is a good one' obviously was never in a crash landing themselves!" Xander said as he began to regain consciousness, "'Cause this? Not at all of the good!"

"Can't say as I disagree with ya, Sugah." Came a weak feminine voice from on top of him.

Looking up he noticed two things that had him scrambling to get to his feet as carefully but as quickly as possible. The first was the fact that once again a crash landing had resulted in a buxom, beautiful babe laying on top of him in such a manner that could be misconstrued a number of different ways. The fact that it was Rogue and that she was still, as far as he knew, still recovering from the chemical imbalance caused by his dragon pheromones only made it all the more urgent he vacate the compromising position. The other was that sometime between getting knocked out in the crash and waking up now, his armor had pulled a vanishing act, leaving him in torn civilian clothes that he'd worn around Washington when not on official X-Men business. Depending on the durability of the Shi'ar space suit that Rogue had worn under her green and white outfit, there was a chance for some skin-to-skin contact between the two of them. Not wanting to see how he'd fare, he knew it'd be best to move to a safer position as soon as possible both for his sake as well as hers. He didn't even want to think what the results might be if the southern mutant somehow absorbed a bit of Kung Lung's essence into her body.

As soon as he got back to his feet, he willed his armor back on as quickly as possible despite the momentary dizziness he experienced. Seeing as how it quickly faded and Rogue wasn't sporting dragon eyes, he decided that he must have managed to avoid getting hit with the woman's powers and thanked God for small favors. Still, he had to look away when the bruised X-Woman momentarily took on a hurt look probably not liking the fact that he'd just treated her like a leper or something. Sighing, he reached out with one of his hands and silently offered to help her to her feet in the hopes that this would mend at least some of the damage.

"Let's go regroup with the others." He said as she placed her hand in his and he pulled her to her feet.

"Right. Gotta make sure the team's alright." She said holding onto his hand a little longer than necessary.

He didn't dwell too long on that.

Fortunately, even with the momentum of the crash and all it didn't take them long to find the others and, while Kurt looked a little worse for wear, the rest seemed to still be in reasonable condition. Deathbird's armor was a little dented and scuffed up, but apparently the person who made it knew what he/she/it was going since the Shi'ar warrior didn't seem hurt in the least. Then again, Cal wasn't exactly the type to show any sign of weakness so she could be a lot worse off than she looked at the moment. He'd keep an eye on her and if it looked like she was incapable of holding her own in a fight he'd drag her kicking and screaming away from the battlefield.

Sarah was the first to spot them and **boy** did she not have a happy look on her bone framed face when she saw that Rogue was with him. The Morlock girl had definitely been affected by the lengths that he'd gone to make her 'first time' special and had steadily been working her way towards officially asking him out on a date. She was still clumsy about it but he could see the genuine intent when he looked into her eyes so he didn't do anything that would ruin the transformation the bone girl was undergoing. Oh, she was still the tough as nails Morlock most of the time but lately he'd seen signs of a normal teenage girl poking out when he was around. While he would prefer that this side come out on its own without his presence, he knew that they'd have to take it all one step at a time. Ten plus years of Morlock living and stewing hatred didn't go away overnight, or even within a year. It'd take time and he was willing to make the time to see it happen.

"Kitty… Kitty?" He heard Kurt ask as the tailed mutant regained consciousness, "Katzchen… are you okay…?"

"Fresh as a daisy, bub." Wolverine replied as he finished securing the injured mutant to an improvised stretcher, "But if you call me Kitty again I'm going to break my rule about slappin' around furry invalids."

"Ach... Logan… I'm sorry… this fever…" Kurt replied regaining enough coherency mentally to grasp the reality around him.

"Don't be sorry elf… sorry's a waste of time…" Wolverine said testing the straps a bit more, "Just get better. We got a lot o' catchin' up to do an' a lotta brew t'swig when we get outta here…"

"Ja, mein freund…we do…" Kurt replied with a stronger voice than before.

While he was no medic, he figured that since neither Storm or Logan were pulling out all the stops to get Nightcrawler to a doctor, the wounds were not life threatening or even all that serious. Rest and time off his feet was probably all the former Excalibur leader would need to get back into fighting form.

"Yo! Metal head! Come over here." Marrow growled at Collossus while making sure not to look in Xander's direction, "I need ya to pull out these cracked bones for me."

"A-are you sure about this?" Peter asked, looking like someone had requested that he stick his hand in a pile of shit for their car keys.

"If I could do it myself, it would've already been done." Sarah snapped at the Russian while bending over slightly to give the man access to the broken bones in her back, "Can't reach the broken bones and no good ones will grow 'til the old ones go."

"This is going to hurt you—" Colossus said wrapping his fingers around one of the larger bones while placing one of his hands on her shoulder.

"They always hurt. This one'll just hurt more…" Marrow said pointing out the fact that her powers didn't come with a pain suppressor, "Do it, Russian."

With a savage jerk, the bone was pulled out with a noise that made all movie versions of something being pulled out of someone's gut pale in comparison. Still, the bleeding stopped quickly enough and, if the Morlock's healing ability was even half of what Wolverine's was, then her back would heal up quickly enough.

"Sorry if that hurt, but I'm certain it didn't hurt half as much as what you tried to do to those innocent people the last time we crossed paths." Colossus stated, throwing away the broken bone with a bit of distaste.

He hadn't heard a lot about the X-Men's first encounter with Marrow and her Gene Nation group, but he'd heard enough to know that some harsh words were to be expected at first from Peter and Kurt. They hadn't spent the last couple of weeks getting to know Sarah and he was sure that once they did they'd see the good person she was underneath the harsh attitude.

"Haven't you heard? Storm and I made up. Best friends now. But any time you want to hurt me, go right ahead." Marrow said with an odd tone to her words, "It felt nice. Almost as nice as when your brother Mikhail would do it."

"My… my brother?" Colossus asked freezing in position.

"If we get out of this, Big Guy, I'll tell you all about it." Sarah said, walking away and leaving the metal man hanging where facts were concerned.

_Never let it be said that that girl doesn't know how to spar verbally._ He thought with a smile as he watched the Russian recover a bit from the verbal jab.

"We need to get out of here, track our attackers, but precious few of us are in any shape to do so." Storm said holding her head in such a way that implied a slight concussion or headache.

"D'you feel anythin' yet, Storm? Any power, ah mean?" Rogue asked, looking down at her glove-covered hands.

"No my friend… the winds are still silent for me. The Grey King's touch was potent…" Storm said, sounding displeased at this little fact.

"Yeah, me neither… funny, huh?" Rogue asked rhetorically, "Soon as I finally want the stupid powers, they up an' leave me. Story of mah life…"

"What of you, Dragon Knight?" Storm asked looking at him with somewhat hopeful eyes.

"Well, aside from a need to ask who came up with that codename, my powers don't seem to be as badly affected as yours are." He replied letting out a small plume of black fire out as a test, "Wouldn't say that they're at full strength yet but shouldn't be too long before they are."

"That is a bit of good news, at least." Ororo stated with a small smile of hope on her face.

"All right, people! I'll take point. Marrow and Dragon Knight will take up the rear." Wolverine declared doing his best to get this little hiking troop going, "They'll watch our backs."

"Did you crack your head open on the way down or are you just going senile old man?" Marrow asked with a mixture of anger and sarcasm, "Look at this bunch! The Wind Rider and Southern Belle are all but useless without their powers, half my weapons are smashed and the furball will slow us down to a crawl in his current state! We're not going anywhere as a group—"

"You'd better can that talk right now, pipsqueak, or Nightcrawler'll have t'share his stretcher." Wolverine growled, cutting off the Morlock before she could say more.

"Logan… Ah hate to admit it, but Marrow might have a point." Rogue said still looking a little banged up from the blows she got from the imposter, "We're in a bad way here. Even when we do make it out of this swamp, it's just damage control, ain't it? Can we really stand up to those X-Men and stop the Benassi Rocket in this condition? With just you, Colossus and Xander close to being at full strength?"

"I DON'T BELIEVE MY FLAMIN' EARS!" Wolverine yelled, sounding seriously pissed and fit to pop claws, "What're we supposed t'do? Sit here on our duffs!? That's quittin' talk an' I hate quittin' talk!"

"Leave them then, Wolverine. If your comrade's lack the inner strength to press on, then they're worthless," Cal'Syee said contemptuously as she stood with her arms crossed over her chest.

"Friends… listen to me." Storm said standing at her full height looking all regal in front of them, "I cannot tell you how long it will be until our powers return, and we are unable to cross this swamp with our accustomed ease. Nor can I tell you what waits for us on the other side, aside from pain…strife…and danger. But I do know this: there are terrorists out there, threatening the lives of our kinsmen and our kind and they're using our name to do it. 'The X-Men'. They defile everything we have dedicated our lives towards, an powers or no, I will see those…those imposters stopped. They are not the X-Men. We are. And the X-Men survive. Together, as a team… a family."

_She might not claim to be a goddess but she sure can inspire people like one. _He thought with a smile beneath his helmet before saying, "Well I don't know about the rest of you, but sooner we get going, the sooner we open up a can of whup ass on those fakes. Let's go!"

With those words he began walkinh in the direction they'd been flying in prior to the attack using the trench that the crashed Blackbird had made in the ground. He didn't even bother to keep tabs on the others since, even if they didn't come along, he was going to stop the fakes and save the day.

Personally, though, he hoped they did all come, 'cause he didn't want to find out the hard way if he could regenerate from a bloody smear on the ground.

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_**Cape Citadel, Main Building, The Next Day, Morning, Shadowcat's P.O.V**_

"Smooth P.R, right?" Spoke a man as she watched him walk away, "Why not just break out the rubber bullets? Heh, 'nothing more', nothing more unless you happen to be a mutie. Sayonara, I say."

"Come on. Pre-launch check in five…" was the last she heard from the other occupant of the room before the duo left the room.

Waiting until they were out the door, she slowly rose up like a ghost from the floor and immediately moved to the computer in an effort to come up with a plan.

_So far, so good, but what the hell am I supposed to do now?_ She thought as she used her hacker skills to gain access to the network, _When I left Corbeau, he was barely coherent, in no state to explain to me what's on that rocket or how to stop it or even why I should. Maybe I can hack into the control tower from here and get the scoop before my new friends show up and—_

"KNOCK-KNOCK TIME!!" Came a familiar Texan voice as the wall to her right was shattered by the powerful fists of the fake X-Man, Landslide, "Lookie here, pard! All-you-can-beat kitty cats! You don't look so hot, girlie! Want we should sit a spell 'fore we tear you apart?"

"…Doorbell…" spoke Chaos in his usual autistic way.

_He's right, the trip down here, the lack of rest, I can barely concentrate long enough to phase. _She thought as she used her powers to make sure none of the flying bits of wall hit her_, I think I'm in trouble._

Still it was the way of the X-Men to go down fighting so if she couldn't kick his ass with her fists, she'd do it with words.

"As long as you don't sit on me, Fatty, knock yourself out." She fired back, defiantly not showing how truly desperate she knew her situation had become.

"Nice zinger, kid. But leave the one-liners to the old timers, huh?" Came a voice she could scarcely remember being so glad to hear, "After all, we're the best we are at what we do."

Turning, she saw coming through the opposite side of the room was the team that had earned the name 'The X-Men', plus one unfamiliar member that she figured had to be that Xander guy she'd heard about. While she couldn't say she was a fan of the Power Ranger look, she had to admit the guy made it work for him because with those glowing eyes of his he made for an impressive warrior.

"Haberdashery…" said Chaos with a bit of suitable emotion this time.

"You said it, pard…" stated Landslide as the mountain of a man appeared to know that the tables had turned now and not in his favor.

With some form of super speed, Xander crossed the distance between the real X-Men and Chaos in the blink of an eye, knocking out the powerful mutant with a single punch while Colossus took on the fake X-Men's strongman Landslide. It was a quick fight, though, as the experience Peter had gained fighting over the years easily outmatched the other mutant's skills and, with an overhand throw, the fat man was thrown clear through the wall and outside. Everyone, herself included, moved to pursue and were just in time to see the flying felon fall from the sky with the Grey King while the elemental member of the fake X-Men remained on her improvised ice sled.

"I love the subtle entrance Colossus." Kurt said, brandishing a short sword made of bone, "Elegantly done."

"Spaceeba, tovarisch." Pete replied as the group moved to take on a familiar fighting formation.

"Any time yer done yappin', kids. We got work ta do." Logan growled in his usual gruff manner.

"Work that only the **real** X-Men can do!" She declared speaking loudly enough that any humans nearby could hear her before whispering, "Could you guys have cut it any closer with the last-minute save?"

"Probably, but like everything timing is important." Replied Xander with a voice that sounded bizarrely like James Earl Jones, "Especially when it comes to dramatic entrances."

"Yeah, well, stay sharp. These guys have been hand-picked by someone claiming to be the Professor and they know all our tricks." She said as she saw the fakes heading their way.

"The Professor?! Kitty, are you certain?!" Storm asked sounding like she couldn't believe what she was hearing.

"Bald, wheelchair, collects mutants? Yeah I think it's him." She replied with a bit of sarcasm, "Whoever he is, he's sure done his homework. He knows the X-Men inside and out, powers and all."

Hearing a crash of glass, she turned to see two more members of the fake X-Men approach from the control tower and she knew that the time for talking was over with. Falling into step with her friends past, present and future, she engaged the fake X-Men in battle. Evading and striking, it wasn't until five minutes into the fight that she noticed that Xander was splitting his efforts between attacking the fake X-Men and intercepting anything harmful that was in danger of hitting the crowd that had been protesting at the wire fence. A smart move, even though she figured that most of the protestors would have been smart enough to start running once the fighting began. Still, if any of the news people saw this, it might lessen the potential anti-mutant backlash that this fight would produce one way or another.

"X-Men, to me!" Storm yelled as the group came together to form a solid defensive ring, "This battle places innocents in danger! We must find a way to draw our adversaries away from—"

"Mutants, heed my words." Came a voice both cold as well as familiar, "This conflict is useless, for you cannot defeat my X-Men. They are superior to you in every way, selected to complete my program efficiently and definitively. Please… for the sake of the program… stand down before you are annihilated."

"By the Goddess… Charles?!" Gasped Storm as she turned to see 'Professor X' approach in a high tech wheelchair.

"'Stand down?' 'Annihilated?' Boshe moi, what has happened to him?" Colossus asked, sounding stunned at the words of the man they so respected.

"I've been wishing I had your hyper-sensitive sniffer for the past day, Wolvie." She said as she tried to figure out what the next move was going to be, "Tell me you're catching a whiff of him… tell me what he really is!"

"Workin' on it, kiddo." Wolvie said to her before taking another deep sniff.

"No one has seen or heard from you in months and now we find you in league with these reckless savages, Herr Professor?!" Kurt asked incredulously at the words he was hearing, "What madness is this?"

"Charles… look at what you have wrought! Clearly you are not in your right mind. Perhaps you are again under Onslaught's influence—" Storm said feverishly looking for some reasonable excuse for her mentor's actions.

"I am not. Thanks to the assistance of Kitty Pryde, for the first time in too long, I have a clear vision of the steps I must take to fulfill my ultimate program." Stated 'The Professor' in the same cold tone he'd been using since these fakes had brought her to him, "The key lies within that vessel… a device that will allow me to find and catalogue every mutant on Earth! A purpose far nobler than it's intended one which is ultimate mutant genocide. The Mutant Defense Net is a cover government program utilizing an array of satellites in geo-synchronous orbit. Each one has the ability to pinpoint mutant activity down to the square foot. After the offending mutants have been identified, they can be expeditiously eliminated with little collateral damage to the surrounding human populace.

"The Benassi rocket holds the final, most critical component of the system. The primary satellite that scans the surface of the planet for mutation," Continued the cold man with the appearance of Charles Francis Xavier. "I cannot achieve my end if it is allowed to launch. The Mutant Defense Net must be bent to my will."

"His eyes, Kurt, look at his eyes!" Colossus said in disbelief as he tried to understand what was happening before him, "I'll never forget the first time I looked into the eyes of Charles Xavier… never forgot his first words to me. 'Power such as yours belongs to the world Peter. To be used for the good of all'. That man taught me what it meant to be a hero. I tell you now, this man before us is not Charles Xavier!"

"The rocket has a volatile radioactive core. Millions of innocent people will die if anything goes kaput!" Kurt stated, trying to reach the man who helped him so much.

"Professor, is this any way to go about fulfilling your dream of peaceful coexistence between humans and mutants? Listen to them screaming out there… they're terrified of us!" she said adding to the argument in the hopes of piercing the icy shell that seemed to smother the kindness Xavier possessed.

"That world… is not for us. The dream you refer to… it is a false reverie held by a pitifully deluded man. Upheld by mutants, who are obsolete." Stated 'Charles Xavier' with a saddened look on his face.

"Y'know 'Chuck'. I been holdin' my tongue while you been breakin' my heart. I wanted t'be sure y'weren't just under some yahoo's spell. But the wind finally shifted… an' the nose never lies." Wolverine said with anger as he popped his bone claws, "Truth be told, I didn't really need it in this case because you ain't him! You ain't even human! But that won't stop me from finding a way t'make you bleed!"

"'Not even human'?!" She exclaimed in surprise as that was not one of the possibilities she had anticipated.

Fortunately the fake Xavier was able to explain this statement even if it meant that Wolvie was taken own by an electrical blast in the process.

"Your fellow mutant is correct, Pryde. I am unlike anything you have ever conceived of." 'Xavier' replied before his form disassembled itself in a flash of blue light before reassembling in the form of an energy based body, "I am the ultimate extension of Charles Xavier's most noble designs. Designs which are about to be made manifest. X-Men carry out your orders. Mutants, prepare to be terminated."

"Well, I think this pretty much clinches things. Good guys are never this cocky and definitely don't use words like terminated." Xander said as metal claws extended from the tips of his fingers and two from the front of each boot, "Guess its time to see if this armor can take different types of energy attacks."

With a bit less skill than she'd expected, Xander lunged at the energy form of the false Xavier and, while he didn't fry like Logan did, it didn't look as though the blades were having much luck hurting the imposter. Then, before the fight could go any further, the fake vanished in a flash of blue light. Looking all about the area, she could see no sign of the fake Professor but she could see the Grey King making off with the satellite so she guessed that was the reason why Professor Fake bugged out. They had what they wanted and didn't see the point in sticking around. It was then, though, that everyone was given an even bigger problem as the rumbling of the rockets they stood near began to fire up. Without a thought, she reached out for the nearest X-Man knowing that the others would know what to do and clue in those that had never done this before. The moment she felt the last person join the chain of hands she used her powers to phase every last one of them until they were no more tangible than a real ghost. A good thing, too, since, seconds later, the rockets above them ignited in full bathing the entire area in a torrent of super hot flames. It went on for a straight ten seconds before the rockets were far enough away that the fire couldn't hit them anymore. She waited a bit longer until Storm made the rain fall heavy enough to cool the ground beneath their feet before bringing everyone back in phase with the rest of the world.

"Could you cut it any closer, Katzchen?" Kurt asked her after examining his tail, "I still have some tail fur that needs singing."

"Sorry… not used to… phasin' this many…" she replied as she tried to get her strength back.

"Yer doin' great, Kitty. Storm's almost got the tarmac cooled off." Wolvie said as the rain continued to cool the area.

"Yeah but Professor Fake's flunkies are getting away with the satellite and the rocket's fried a circuit or something, 'cause it's heading for the mainland." Xander said pointing to the fire propelled projectile arcing through the air towards Florida, "We gotta stop it somehow!"

"I know Xander… But how can we possibly reach it in time and retrieve the satellite at the same time as well?" Storm asked as she tried to use her experience as field commander to solve the problem, "We will have to split up."

"Won't work, Storm… least not the way you're thinkin' of it. We do need to split up but it's gonna be eight of you and one of me." Rogue said as she pulled off one of her gloves, "None of us alone can catch that rocket but if I can absorb Kurt's and Peter's powers, plus Wolvie's military knowledge, ah stand a chance at gettin' up there and divertin' the rocket in time. Rest of you can take on our 'replacements' once you wake up."

None of the others looked pleased about this plan, knowing the downsides of Rogue's powers, but they could not come up with any alternative courses of action. With courage that only came from true heroes, Peter, Kurt and Wolverine stepped forward showing their willingness to let their comrade borrow their powers.

"Xander, Deathbird and myself will go ahead to keep them from escaping aboard their aircraft." Storm said as she rose into the air on gusts of wind her mutant powers provided, "The rest of you join us as soon as you are able."

With that, Ororo and her sub-group took to the air in the direction that the Grey King had gone and she had only one thing to say to that.

"I know running's healthy but this is ridiculous!" she growled as she took off on the ground after her friend.

&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&

_**A Clearing Five Minutes West of Cape Citadel, Two Minutes Later, Deathbird's P.O.V**_

"As **touching** as that little scene was, I would ask you to stop before I vomit." Cal'Syee Neramani of the House Neramani said as she swooped down and knocked two of their foes to the ground.

It had been a bothersome little adventure she'd chosen to go on to help the X-Men and their comrades, but it had at least managed to rid her of her boredom. The aerial fight with the pathetic band of imposter X-Men had been far too short but it gave her a taste of what they were up against. While the mutant called Grey King possessed the ability to dampen the abilities of others, it would appear to have its potency cut in half when used against one not native to the planet. Nevertheless, she was momentarily disoriented when she first felt the fiend's powers assault her body and that winged wench that, even now, was getting back to her feet had taken advantage of that moment of vulnerability. Thus had she plummeted to the swamp below with the rest of the mutant rabble but, thankfully, her superior genetic stock and protective armor had kept her from suffering serious harm. It had been infuriating that a warrior of her stature had been undone by some trollop with no great battles to her name and all that kept her from seeking out the woman on her own had been the wench's allies. While she was the fiercest warrior in the Shi'ar Empire, the allies of her target would be nuisances and hindrances, perhaps to the point where her prey would get away somehow. She would need the X-Men if she was to claim her revenge and so she travelled with them on foot through the fetid swamp, on dirty back roads, until they reached the human installation that their foes would assault.

She had not been forced to wait for battle once again begin, for they arrived at the mutant Shadowcat's position just in time to save her from being slain by the false X-Men. From there it had been **glorious** as she had been quick to teach the blue skinned witch the price that all must pay for daring to strike the Regent Deathbird. She had drawn first blood within minutes of the battle beginning and had been ready to inflict more serious wounds when an energy discharge had knocked her off her target. Alexander had guided her back to the main group to recover and, from there an interesting new element revealed itself. A **thing** posing as the consort of her weak sister arrived to attempt to persuade the X-Men to surrender or be destroyed. She knew from the moment she looked into the thing's eyes that it could not be Xavier. That bald fool never possessed such steel, such chilly coldness, but held her tongue knowing that it would take more than her word to convince the X-Men that they stood before a fraud. Though unkempt and foul, Wolveirne soon provided that proof and Alexander provided her with a useful bit of information when he assaulted the false Xavier. Despite the sharpness of his blades, the young man's weapons were unable to affect the false one. While she knew not the nature of the metal the blades were made out of, the sight was enough to convince her that she did not possess the necessary weapon to slay the being posing as her sister's consort.

_Fortunately the imposters have split up and all I need worry about now are these two. _She thought as she took one of her extendable javelins and threw it at Grey King, _Easily defeatable. _

However she cursed when her weapon was pushed slightly off course by the Grey King's telekinetic powers so that, instead of piercing a vital organ, she merely pierced his side. Still, the partial success implied that he still had not recovered enough from her initial assault to bring the full strength of his powers into play.

She intended to keep it that way.

Swooping downwards once more, she intended to plunge one of her electrified javelins right into the man's spine so that, even if it did not kill him outright, he would be effectively neutralized, allowing her to move on to her primary target. Unfortunately it became clear that the crimson haired whore was unwilling to wait her turn but her skill with a blade was obviously recently learned. It was easy to reposition her javelin so that, instead of piercing the Grey King, it hit the winged concubine instead. The screams the female let out as she was electrified from the inside sounded **so** sweet but she did not take the time to savor the sounds for too long. The Grey King would soon recover from the wound to his side and, if was given a chance to bring his powers to bear, she would be at a serious disadvantage. Looking over at the Grey King, though, she was gratified to see that Storm had chosen to fight him herself and was using her lightning powers to great effect.

"Looks like it is just you and me, you miserable commoner of a backwater world." She said with a smile she knew looked bloodthirsty thanks to some practice in front of a mirror, "Let's play."

Intimidation tactics needed to be practiced, after all.

"You've had enough fun for today, Cal." Came Xander's voice as a metal clad hand clamped down on her right shoulder, "She's unconscious and in no shape to fight. You've won. No need to go further than this."

She was tempted for a moment to state otherwise but, turning to look into the glowing eyes of the young man whom she was quite fond of, she decided to concede to his judgment.

THIS time.

Her superior senses picking up four sets of feet approaching from the rear, she turned to see that the rest of the whore's teammates had arrived along with the false Xavier. Where they had been up until now, she did not know nor did she care. All that mattered was that she now had new targets to vent her anger upon and she was eager to share all the fury she possessed with these fools. Deciding to fight the large lumbering oaf first, she flew into fighting range swiftly and immediately raked her talons across his face, causing the fool to reach for his damaged visage like an amateur. It was clear that this brute was not an experienced warrior and she decided to dispatch him quickly in order to move onto a more challenging foe. However, when the mammoth of a man suddenly recovered from his facial wounds, she was forced to wonder if there was more to him than first glance would imply. Shoving that thought to the side, she merely adjusted her tactics to ones she had prepared for other foes with the ability to rapidly recover from wounds or block out pain. Bones were snapped, flesh was cut deep as well as long and many a blow was delivered to the head. By the time she was done, the musclebound fool was an unconscious bloody body on the grass beneath her feet that, while still alive, would need a considerable amount of time to recover from the wounds she'd inflicted.

KAZAKOWWWWW

Turning to the source of the explosion she saw that Katherine Pryde had used the side effect of her phasing powers to cause the main sensor satellite to detonate. Good. This would render it impossible for either the terran military or this false Xavier to use it for their equally foul purposes.

"FOOLS! Do you know what you've done?" Yelled the fake Xavier who seemed to be suffering mentally from something, "No…no…this does not compute…failure…not…possible…"

"You're right… failure wasn't possible…" Nightcrawler said as the X-Men converged on the sole remaining threat.

"Not for the real X-Men." Colossus finished with finality.

"Couldn't have put it better myself." Alexander said, dropping the elemental member of the imposter team.

"So how do we play this, 'Chuckie'?" Wolverine asked looking prepared to reaffirm that physical weapons were ineffective, "You gonna give us the lowdown on exactly who you jokers are?"

"…program…**abort**." Said the false being before both he and his subordinates vanished like blue glowing fog in all directions.

"Well looks like it's all over." Alexander said, casting his eyes about the immediate area most likely to see if he could track their foes with his powers.

"Hardly, Dragon Knight. Though we managed to avert today's disaster, we must all pull together, now more than ever, so that we may discover the true nature of the imposters and find the real Charles Xavier." Storm said making it clear that her words were to be taken seriously.

"Some of us will… but Kitty is willing to give up all this excitement for teachers, books and dirty looks. Right, Liebchen?" Asked Nightcrawler with some jest in his words.

"A girl is allowed to change her mind, last I checked, Mr. Wagner." Katherine Pryde stated with rueful grin, "I could stay at least until we get this sorted out."

"Speakin' o' stayin'… let's not. There ain't a trace o' our sparrin' partners and the feds'll be all over this place in ten seconds." Wolverine stated as Alexander ceased his surveying of the surrounding area, "Who's workin' evac?"

"Ah'm too pooped t'punch, Wolverine… no way ah can carry y'all back." Rogue said looking tired from her effortst to divert the runaway primitive spacecraft.

"Nor can I…" Storm stated sounding quite fatigued.

"Well I can carry two or three at a time but no way can I get us all back to the mansion by myself." Alexander said pointing out the flaw in letting him carry them all to safety.

"Sometimes you terrans astound me with your stupidity." She said rolling her eyes before pointing at the untouched aircraft of the false X-Men nearby, "That aircraft seems to be in working order. Why not make use of it ourselves?"

All of the mutants looked at the abandoned plane with the precise same look and Alexander managed to efficiently state what was no doubt going through the minds of the mutant morons at the moment.

"D'OH!!"

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	25. Big Cities and Big Bads

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the copyrighted material shown herein. It is all the rightful property of their respective creators and associated companies. I make no profit off of this whatsoever. I write for my own amusement and the enjoyment of those readers who like my work.

* * *

_**Entering Forest Hills, Queens, New York, Two Days Later, Evening, Xander's P.O.V**_

_Well that was a waste of time! Magic may be handy but it looks like it isn't the cure all I hoped it'd be._ Xander thought as he flew through the air as though it was second nature, _Without something that's been recently in the possession of the Professor Doc Strange can't cast a locator spell. Even though the Sorcerer Supreme has met Xavier before it looks like that's not enough to get a lock on him._

The others were looking into things on their own but with such a big world to look over and limited tech available to do the looking with. According to Kitty they were expecting Excalibur's Cerebro unit within the next week or so and once they had that it should be a piece of cake to lock onto the bald guy's x-gene regardless of whether or not the powers were active or not. Until then everyone at the mansion was splitting their time between either calling their sources or tending to their own personal matters. He'd come to the Big Apple in the hopes that the Sorcerer Supreme might be able to use some spell, locator or otherwise, to speed things up. However that had been a bust but rather than head back to the X-Mansion he figured he'd check in on Pete, MJ and little May since it'd been awhile since they'd last seen one another. After all he was honorary uncle to the little lady he'd rescued from Osborn's bitch and that meant visits were pretty much necessary if he didn't want to become one of those relatives that only existed in name. He'd even made a stop by a toy store to grab a stuffed animal as an early Birthday present since he wasn't sure if he'd be around on Halloween given how things had a habit of popping up with him. It was tucked in his right arm and while it stood out a bit against his black armor he doubted it be a problem since no one knew who was beneath the armor.

Seeing the house of the Parker family coming up on the horizon he looked about for a suitable touchdown point where he could change out of his armor without anyone seeing. Spotting a relatively out of the way clump of trees that didn't have a house around it with windows facing the right way he came down and gracefully landed on the sidewalk. One flash of light later and it was just plain old Xander Harris who was walking down the street with shades on and a stuffed animal in hand. When he was three houses away from his destination he hoped that the married couple weren't busy or in the middle of something important. He hadn't exactly warned them he was coming and it'd be awefully awkward to just drop in on them uninvited if they were having a romantic evening to themselves or if they had guests. With that in mind he decided that he'd use his enhanced senses to take a look see inside the house and if it sounded like his presence would be a problem he'd drop the toy off and walk away.

He was at the top of the walkway leading to the front porch when he stretched out with this enhanced senses of hearing, smell and sight to get a better idea of what he was walking into. His ears could pick up Peter and MJ's voices as well as the baby noises of little May but no one else that he could pick up. Taking a whiff of the air he couldn't smell all that many scents that were going towards the front door of the house so it didn't look like anyone had entered or left the place in a fairly long amount of time. Lowering his shades a bit he looked through the windows of the home in front of him and thanks to his golden orbs he was able to see with uncanny clarity and detail. No sign of anyone moving about so this pretty much confirmed the conclusion of his other senses that only the married couple and their firstborn were present inside.

_Looks like I chose just the right time to pay a visit. _He thought as he strolled forward towards the front door.

Knocking on the door he didn't have to wait long before the sound of footsteps approached and when the door opened he was pleased to see Pete standing there looking like only a happy father could. It was nice to see such happiness on his face even with all the troubles being Spider-man must dump on him week in and week out. He knew that Spider-man wasn't the most beloved superhero of NYC and that few people outside of the spandex crowd knew him for who he really was. As a result the press and some of the more mornic members of the public often slammed the webhead or gave him grief even though he might have just saved their lives. It bothered him but since the web slinger didn't let it get to him he himself wouldn't pay it any mind either. It wasn't for the praise that the two of them fought the good fight but rather because it was the right thing to do and neither of them could live with themselves if they failed to act when someone needed some help.

So let the public and the media think what they would.

So long as the people that mattered knew the truth and the world kept spinning that was good enough for him.

"Xander! What brings you to my humble doorstep?" Pete asked extending his right hand for a handshake.

"Well I was in the neighborhood and thought I'd stop by to see how you were doing." He replied taking the offered hand and giving it a firm shake, "Plus I have a little something for the little lady of the house."

Pulling out the stuffed animal he could see the smile on the heroes face get even brighter as he no doubt imagined how much his little girl would like it.

"She'll love it! C'mon in. I know MJ would like to see you again and it's been awhile since little May saw her 'uncle'." Peter said inviting him inside by stepping aside.

Taking the invitation but also making a mental note to reprimand Parker for inviting someone in after dark because while Spider-man might be able to handle a vamp the same couldn't be said about the rest of the house residents. Looking about the house he didn't see too many differences from his last visit aside from a couple of things common to the care of baby like a crib and an empty baby bottle. From the looks of things having a kid to take care of didn't make things too different for the Parker family but he was fairly certain that it was only recently that the duo got the hang of being parents. After all he'd heard enough stories from Jesse and Willow's parents to know that sleepless nights and parental stress were the primary problems first time parents often faced.

"So you still doing freelance work for the Bugle?" he asked as they moved to the main living room of the house.

"For now but MJ is considering getting back into the modeling business. While snapping pics for Jameson might be enough for the basics raising a kid takes quite a bit more." Pete said as they finally arrived at their destination, "Lucky for us though the designers and photographers haven't forgotten the magnificent Mary Jane Watson-Parker."

"How could they with a face like this?" came MJ's question as she heard the tail end of her husband's statement, "Good to see you again Xander."

"Likewise Red. I gotta say that nobody could forget you no matter how hard they tried." He said praising the woman's innate beauty that hadn't suffered at all after the trials of childbirth.

"Thanks and it looks like someone else hasn't forgotten you either." MJ said with a smile as she moved over to an open area of the living room where little May was trying to crawl over to him.

She didn't look a whole lot different from when he'd seen her last but definitely looked happy and well cared for if he was any judge. Getting down on his knees he waited for her and when she was no more than a few steps away he brought forward the toy he'd bought for her. He could see precisely when the child saw the toy and seconds later little May Parker was grasping the stuffed animal lifting it up and down while making baby noises of joy. It was a sight that warmed his heart and made him all the happier that he'd been around to keep this precious little one out of the clutches of Norman Osborn. He shuddered to think about what might have happened if this little one had been subjected to the evil of the man that by all accounts was once the villain known as the Green Goblin.

He would never let that happen.

He'd kill that son of a bitch Osborn before he let that happen!

BOOM!

The house shook at a lightshow popped up outside causing everyone in the room to stop what they were doing completely. While the shaking stopped there was still something lighting up the street outside the Parker home and that did not bode well considering the different things it could be. As one he and Pete went to see what it was while MJ hopefully picked up little May to get the child to someplace safe. Once he got to the window he looked out and saw a man who seemed to be made of molton lava walking stiffly towards two people who were just now managing to get to their feet. Running for the door he summoned his armor and once he was on the porch he leapt over the recovering duo to tackle the hostile looking superhuman to the ground.

A mistake he only painfully found out about after the fact.

It turned out that the man he'd attacked was indeed made of molten material and even with his armor it was rather painful to come into direct contact with such a hot person. He was pretty sure that armor wasn't damaged but it was heated up quite a bit causing him pain and forcing him to let go and roll away. His armor cooled down quick enough and his body's healing factor quickly sent the pain away allowing him to get back to his feet without difficulty. At least he'd managed to get the molten man away from the two people it had been pursuing and hopefully that would give the innocents time to flee.

"Susan! How bad…" came the voice of a man that could only have belonged to one of the victims.

"Bad…enough…" replied Susan who sounded like she'd taken some damage he hadn't been aware of, "Parker…get Parker…"

"I can't get past the Molten Man carrying you…and I can't just leave you." The man said refusing to just let his companion be unprotected.

"…Robertson…" gasped the Molten Man who seemed to be struggling to form the words.

"You can speak?! When you attacked us at the docks, I got the impression you'd lost that particular talent." Roberson said sounding surprised at what had just happened.

"Head…hurting." Molten Man ground out as his limbs trembled, "Someone…put…something…put something…in my head…"

"Robbie?" came Peter's voice as the husband of MJ finally made an appearance.

It was something of a surprise since he'd figured that Pete would've switched into Spider-man to help him about but given the proximity of the fight to the Parker home it probably would have been too suspicious to have the webhead show up just like that. With him around though it was possible that he could bluff his way through things by saying that he'd teleported, by chance of course, to the front door of the Parker home to intercept the evil Molten Man. Since so little was known about his superhero personae then Robertson and the woman wouldn't be able to refute his claim.

"Pete! We came here to see you! Susan has something to tell—" Robertson tried to say before the Molten Man spoke again with pain in his voice.

"HER! It's HER! She's the one inside my head! She's the one hurting me!" Molten man declared pointing an accusatory finger at the woman.

"Susan…what in blazes is he talking abou?" Robertson asked the woman who looked like she'd drop to her knees any minute.

"I…don't know…I don't know…" Susan replied getting weaker by the moment, "Unless this locket…Osborn gave it to me so long ago I'd almost forgotten."

"Osborn?" both Pete and Robertson exclaimed in surprise as they looked at the simple looking trinket dangling from her hand.

Taking it from her Robertson held the piece of jewelry away from the rest of them and just like a magnet the eyes of Molten Man were drawn to it as though it was the most important thing in the world.

"Oh, for god's sake!! No **wonder** we've been barely eluding Osborn's people every step of the way!" Robertson exclaimed as the truth was exposed for all to see, "You've been carrying a tracking device! And that poor devil has no choice but to follow it."

With those words Robbie Robertson threw the locket as far away as he could and just as predicted Molten Man went after it crushing it with his fists once he was within reach of it. After that he just shut down as though all his strength had left him but whether it was truly over he didn't know so just to be on the safe side he'd keep his guard up.

"Robertson…" Susan said as her legs finally gave out on her, "…time's up…all…the…time…is…up…"

"Susan! You must tell Peter what you have to say!" Robertson exclaimed urgingly as he held the dying woman in his arms, "Peter! Come here quickly!!"

"What is it you wanted to tell me Miss?" Peter asked as he knelt down next to the woman.

"Come…come closer…not…much time left…" Susan said reaching out to Peter Parker.

Pete did as she asked and it was only because of his enhanced senses that he was able to pick out what was said next.

"Your…your Aunt May…she's still alive…" Susan said as the light began to fade from her eyes, "Switched by Osborn…go to his hunting lodge…save her…"

With those words Peter reared back in shock as the woman went completely limp and completely dead in the arms of Robertson signaling the end of her time among the living. It was sad and made him wonder if there had been anything that could have been done for the woman but in the end he was forced to answer 'no'. Teleportation was beyond him and given how swiftly she perished it was likely that whatever damage had been done by Molten Man's initial appearance was beyond the scope of modern medicine to heal.

"Aunt May…is alive…?" Pete asked in shock as his mind is tried to comprehend what he'd been told.

"Maybe Peter. Susan certainly believed it enough to put her life on the line to pass this information onto you." Robbie stated slowly and gently putting Susan down on the ground.

"I doubt anyone who'd be willing to risk their life on something like this would lie like that." He said approaching the group for the first time, "Mr. Parker you stay here and care for your family. I will look up some back up and then go to Osborn's hunting lodge to rescue your aunt. Maybe I'll see if Spider-Man is in the area. If what Urich's book said is true then Osborn is really the Green Goblin and so it'd only be fitting that the webhead be in on this. That okay with you?"

"Yeah…yeah! Please save my Aunt May!" Peter replied looking at him in a way that made it clear that the photographer had heard the hidden message.

"Count on it!" he said before letting his wings emerge from his back and taking to the air.

* * *

_**Just Outside the Osborn Hunting Lodge, An Hour and a Half Later, Spider-Man's P.O.V**_

_Where is Xander?_ Pete asked as he let go of his webline and landed on a tree branch just across the street from Osborn's property, _He should have gotten here ahead me._

"About time you got here." Came Xander's voice from a dense collection of trees behind him, "I've been waiting here for almost an hour."

"GAAHHH!! Don't **do** that!!" he exclaimed as his friend's arrival surprised the hell out of him, "You nearly gave me a heart attack!"

"Sorry but it's kinda hard not to sneak up on people when you're dressed like this." Xander said before coming to a stop just to the right of the branch he was standing on, "So shall we add B&E as well as trespassing to our resumes?"

"Why not? I already have public annoyance and littering on mine so this'll be a nice way of topping it off." He replied before shotting off a webline that would help him clear the wall around Norman's territory, "Tally ho!"

_Prosecute this, Norman! I can't believe it's true!_ He thought as he made it over the wall, _She's alive!! After all this time!! She's been alive and I didn't know!!_

Swinging along and using the branches to adhere his webline's to he kept going over what he'd been told wondering if it was true or not. Was Aunt May still alive? Had she somehow been switched out by Osborn without his knowing about it? The truth of the matter was that he wouldn't put anything past that monster and it would be just like that psycho to take the woman who'd raised him and put a fake in her place. The man was obsessed with making him suffer and no matter how hard he seemed to fight he never seemed to be able to put Norman down for good. Either some legal technicality managed to provide an escape route for Gobby or crazy Green one used moves from the Evil Overlord's handbook to keep him occupied before making his getaway. When that horrible day arrived when Gwen was murdered there'd been only one good thing to come from it in the form of the apparent death of the Green Goblin aka Norman Osborn.

He should've known better.

Evil like Osborn's never dies for real.

Not really.

It was as he was thinking though that something seriously weird happened when one of his weblines missed the branch he'd been aiming for. Fortunately though he'd had this happen once or twice before and was able to shoot off another without too much trouble. However when this one missed as well he knew something hinky was going on and it only took him another try with his webshooters to figure out what that something was. Somehow the tree branches were moving in order to make sure that his weblines missed their mark and then he got introduced to another one of their moves. A branch almost slammed him right in the ribs but thanks to his handy dandy spider sense he was able to evade it but it was soon proven to be the first of many obstacles. He didn't know how Osborn had pulled this off but it's clear that is old foe had set up some pretty exotic defenses to keep him from the hunting lodge. It wouldn't do a damn thing though! He'd still get through and rescue his aunt!

A near miss through the next section of trees though made him up his reaction time as he realized that each branch had razor sharp spines sticking out of them all over the place.

Now he had to look for openings in the trees big enough to not only so he could continue on but also so he could evade any of the living branches that might try to smack him out of the air while they stuck him with the spines. Not an easy thing to do. He was about halfway through the forest section when his spider sense told him something even more dangerous than the environment he was already coping with. With a small leap he managed to land on the ground and thankfully Osborn didn't think to turn the grass razor sharp otherwise he'd have some serious foot injuries upon touchdown.

It was only a few minutes later that the cause of his heightened spider sense buzz when some purple…things…showed up looking like they'd just love to take a bite out of him. They looked like a weird mix of dog and lizard with a few genetic twists thrown in for in variety. While his inner scientist was intrigued at the mystery of how Norman had created these things he knew that he didn't have much time to get to the hunting lodge. By now the former Green Goblin must have learned of Molten Man's failure to prevent Susan from getting to him and so it was only a matter of time before Norman made a move to block his rescue attempt. However as he worked to counter the lizard hounds he found out that they had a greater level of intelligence than he'd originally thought as they actually managed to keep him on his toes despite his spider sense. Nevertheless he did his best to end this confrontation quickly so he could move onwards to the lodge and when a black blur tackled one of the beasts from his left side before it could attack him. He smiled underneath his mask as he recognized Xander in his armor as he threw the beast into the spine filled trees to be torn bloody.

"Nice of you to show up Dragon Boy." He said as the both of them moved into position to cover each other's back.

"Sorry but the veggies here are a little tough to chew through." Xander said as he dealt a vicious claw swipe to another attacking creature.

"Hope you're finished with them all 'cause it's time we finish off these mutts and move onto the main course." He said as he webbed another beast to a nearby tree.

"Hope it's something home made because it sure is better than something store bought." Xander declared before using some metal claws on his right foot to slice through the throat of the last creature.

With those words the two of them moved through the rest of the forest and ten minutes later managed to get to within eyesight of their destination. However just before he could give the signal to begin their approach the familiar sound of a rocket propelled craft reached his ears right before his spider sense spiked informing him of something incoming. Turning towards the source he was unsurprised to see Norman coming at him with a new Green Goblin outfit and some sort of book in hand.

"Welcome to my home, Spider-man and Dragon Knight. While I had only been expecting the web slinger I suppose having a witness could be fun." Greeny said as he turned his glider into hover mode, "Then again this could be where your journey comes to an end. You just have not lived up to my expectations in this final drama of ours Spider-man. I had such high hopes and plans. I had left clues for you to discover and…nothing. I am surprised that you have done as well as you have in school.

"But that was a different lifetime ago. In the past you had only Norman Osborn with whom to contend. But now, after the power granted me by the Gathering of Five ceremony you must contend with the Green Goblin!" declared Osborn with much drama and a little mental instability.

"What is all this about, Norman?" he asked the maniac angrily as he barely kept himself from attacking, "You think this will stop me from getting my Aunt May back? The one that you kidnapped and replaced with a fake!!"

"So she managed to let the cat out of the bag before dying right in front of you? HAHAHAHAHA!!" Osborn said in a way that did not say great things about Gobby's mental state, "Forgive me. I'm sure this is all very serious to you, but you have to understand…here. Please take a look. It was always intended that you find this, but, once again, you disappointed me."

With those words the green clad monster toss him the book he'd carried to the scene and with only a moment's hesitation he opened it up to take a look at the contents.

"I had it all ready the night you showed up at my office and assaulted me. While that attack did aid my little melodrama, it did take things in quite a different direction." Norman said with mocking words of disappointment, "This Osborn journal, if you will, is filled with truths and lies, but you were supposed to see it as the way to finally convince everyone of the evil of Norman Osborn. You were supposed to bring it to the authorities, but watch…"

Looking down at the words he confirmed what he'd been told as the words in the journel truly did paint Norman Osborn as the villain he truly was but then something unbelievable happened.

"The words? They're disappearing! Changing!" he exclaimed as the ink on the pages began to move as though they were living creatures.

"Exactly! Had you ever retrieved the journal as I had planned…you would have turned it over to the authorities convinced that it would have meant the fall of Norman Osborn but instead they would have read the journals of a concern citizen. A man living in terror of Spider-man." Stated the Jolly Jade One with the voice of the triumphant, And they would have learned the reason for Osborn's fear was that he'd finally learned the identity of the man behind the mask. And they would have learned that Peter Parker, the man who is Spider-man, had poised his aged Aunt May upon her learning of his identity."

"NO!" he exclaimed as the scope of the man's evil hit home oh so powerfully.

Throwing the book that would have been his undoing had he found it that night at Norman he watched his foe bat it aside as though it were nothing before unleashing a blast from his left glove.

"It's over, Spider-man. I tire of this game of ours which has played out across a span of years. I am tired of the personal vendetta I have waged against you. Perhaps it is my newfound godhood, or maybe it is the DNA bomb, with which I am planning to reshape the world in my own image, that has now taken center stage! Either way you must **DIE**!" Osborn yelled as he continued his barrage of glove blasts.

"Don't count on it Osborn!" Xander said as he jumped in front of him to take the energy blast for him.

Whatever his friend's armor was made out of it was apparently stronger than Norman's energy blasts because aside from a grunt there was no other visible effect of the attack. This did not go over well with the Green Goblin as the rate of fire increased and the glider changed locations in an effort to bybass the armored shield that was Xander. Eventually things got so bad that pumpkin bombs and razor bats but between himself and Xander nothing got hurt except maybe his outfit. It was then though that Gobby took a different tactic by putting his glider on auto-pilot and leapt off it so that he could attack from two directions at once. With that done Xander was divided in his efforts as he tried to intercept both the blasts from Norman and his glider.

"Go on ahead to the lodge webhead!" Xander said moving faster and faster as time went on, "Rescue the hostage! I'll keep the Green Goblin occupied!"

He didn't want to leave his friend and his daughter's honorary uncle to Norman's tender mercies but he had to admit that his Aunt May was the priority here. He had no idea what sort of state her health was in and since it had always been fragile for as long as he could remember. With a nod in the direction of his ally he shot out a webline and made for the lodge as quickly as he could. If he was right then Osborn must have switched out his Aunt May for the fake before she found out he was Spider-man and he remembered how she'd always believed or at least considered what J. Jonah Jameson put into the Bugle. He'd tried a few times in the past to convince her that Spider-man was a hero but she just humored him by agreeing with whatever he had to say. He would have to do some fancy thinking in order to convince her to believe that 'Spider-man' was here to save her rather than cause her more misery.

_Sort of makes me wish that it was Xander going in here because I think he has the easier job of the two of us._ He thought as he saw the front door of the lodge getting closer by the minute.

* * *

_**Three Minutes Later, The Forest That Encircled the Hunting Lodge, Xander's P.O.V**_

"Get out of my way you armored fool!" yelled the Green Goblin as he continued to assault the person blocking his path.

"Not happening! You want past me you're going to have to bring me down the hard way!" Xander declared as he braced himself for the more potent pumpkin bombs to come from the arsenal of the green clad goon.

It had been three minutes or so since Pete had swung off to rescue his Aunt but during those one hundred and eighty seconds the devastation caused by his foes weapons increased. Where before he was able to shrug off just about everything Osborn had to throw at him now he was actually coming close several times to knocking him clean off his feet. If it weren't for the fact that the guy was evil and a psycho he'd almost be impressed by the weapons knowledge of the man. Whatever the situation was though so long as the Green Goblin focused his efforts on him it meant that Peter would have all the time he needed to rescue his Aunt.

"I have had enough of your interference!" declared Osborn before he retrived what looked like decorative ghost, "Take this!"

It was a fair throw indeed but he saw it coming and hopped backwards but to his surprise when the object hit the ground it splattered a slimy substance on the area around where it landed reaching his feet. It didn't go past his ankles but nevertheless he quickly learned what the ghost blob was designed to do when he tried to move his feet. Like extremely tough taffee it proved difficult to move his feet and it seemed as though the more pressure he put on the substance the stronger it became.

"I had planned to use this to restrain that annoying wall crawler so that I could force him to watch me reshape the world in my image." Gobby stated as he hopped back onto his glider, "Well I suppose that I'll have to settle for dragging him around by the scruff of his neck to make sure he paid attention. You on the other hand will remain here until I decide a suitable fate for you. A quick death is far too merciful for the likes of you. Farewell!"

With those words the madman flew away towards the hunting lodge no doubt to keep Peter from getting away with his Aunt. Determined not to let the bastard get away from him that easily he redoubled his efforts to free himself from the goo and tapped into the power of Kung Lung to increase his strength. He was shocked though to find that not only did the slime stand up to his increasing strength but the ground it was attached to also refused to break down. It didn't make sense! Osborn might be able to mess with the genes of biological entities like the creatures and the trees but dirt was dirt no matter what you could do with it. He couldn't figure out how mere dirt was managing to hold up to super strength equal to that of Rogue at her best but he was through trying to do things this way. With a growl of rage he let loose the black flames of Kung Lung at the goo entrapping his feet and watched as it and all things around it disintigrate including the things keeping him from going to Spider-man's aid. The second he felt the last of the substance binding his feet fell away he took to the skies and made for the lodge as quickly as he could manage.

He soon spotted what remained of the front door as it had been demolished prior to his arrival but whether it had been done at the hands of the webhead or Osborn he didn't know. Landing on the ground he quickly pulled his wings back within his body and ran into the structure enhancing his senses now to take him to his prey. Twists and turns as well as staircases might as well have not existed thanks to the speed he now channeled through his legs allowing him to reach the source of the sensory stimuli he sought. What he found when he arrived brought his anger back to a high boil as he saw an old woman who must be Aunt May limp in the arms of Spider-man with the Goblin hovering not far away. Since he knew for a fact that Pete would never harm his surrogate mother it must have been Norman Osborn who knocked her unconscious.

"What do you want with her, Norman?" Spider-man asked as he did his best to keep his Aunt close to him.

"I will not explain myself to you! Not to you, or to anyone else ever again!" Osborn yelled with even more insanity than before, "My patience is at an end. Put her down and back away. You step back as well you armored cretin. Neither of you have any idea of the forces you're playing with."

"I don't think so." Peter said making his resolve to stand up to the monster.

"What? You would dare to refuse me? Are you blind to see that which I have become?" Norman asked incredulously as he got right in Pete's face, "No. I suppose your puny mind would be overwhelmed if you were to view my true countenance. I should…NO! Actually…I've changed my mind…take her! Yes indeed, young Parker. You deserve to be reunited with your favored Aunt before the end. And the end is near. Take her, and learn the truth, or die with her where you stand. Never let it be said that Norman Osborn was not a compassionate deity. Don't be alarmed, m'boy. I'm attempting to do you one last favor. Eventually you'll die, probably before the night is through, but for now…go. I'll even clear the way for you!"

Throwingh a trio of pumpkin bombs Osborn obliterated the nearby wall of the room exposing the night sky for all to see.

"But make haste before I change my mind." Norman said with a flicker in his eyes that implied he could change his mind in an instant.

"C'mon Webs. It's getting a little too crazy for me here." He said jerking his head towards the opening in the wall.

With that the two of them left through the hole provided with the insane laughter of Osborn echoing through the air for all to hear.

* * *

_**The HQ of the Fantastic Four, Two and a Half Hours Later, Peter Parker's P.O.V**_

"No. It just can't be. Run it again." Peter said as his mind replayed the conclusion that Reed Richards had come to with his comparison tests.

It had been an hour since he had come to the leader of the Fantastic Four looking for confirmation that the woman he and Xander had rescued from Osborn's clutches was indeed his Aunt May. Early on, after hearing the news from the woman Robbie had brought to his doorstep, he had leapt at the idea that the woman that had raised him from the very beginning was indeed alive. However as he took the unconscious woman further and further from her former captor he had to wonder if this wasn't all just another one of the Green Goblin's schemes. Something meant to trick him into getting his hopes up just so they could be dashed when it would hurt him the most. It would just the sort of mental torture the monstrous man would think up for him. So rather than take the woman in his arms home he went to the HQ of the smartest man on the planet so that his suspicions could either be dispelled or proven. At the end of the first battery of tests it was proven that the woman was real, human and not a replicant of some kind. However there was still nothing to conclusively prove that she was indeed his Aunt May since none of the official medical records on file could be trusted. It would have been child's play for Norman to alter them somehow to say whatever he wanted them to say. In the end Reed had told him that the only way that the elderly woman's identity could be proven beyond a reasonable doubt would be to obtain a pure untainted sample of his Aunt's DNA for comparison.

It had taken him less than a minute to conceive of what he needed.

With all due haste he'd swung back to his home while Xander remained to watch over the elderly woman just in case Osborn changed his mind once again. Once there he had been glad to see that MJ and little May had left for the safehouse that they had obtained three months after having his daughter returned to him. He knew after the first night that it was a very real possibility that Norman would try to kidnap his firstborn again and so he'd done his best to ensure that that would not happen. He called in many a favor but in the end he was able to rest easy knowing that if trouble ever came for him and his family they would be safe. It had only taken him a moment to find his old science project containing slides that had the dried blood of Aunt May, Uncle Ben and himself. A quick swing across the city later and he was back to FF HQ so that Reed could finally conclusively prove who the elderly woman was.

However despite his hopes he had not truly believed that his prayers would be answered.

Yet according to Reed they had indeed.

"I've run it half a dozen times, Spider-man. She is May Parker." Reed stated standing by the findings he'd produced.

"How is she? How's her health?" he asked looking down at the relation that had now been returned to him, "The Goblin hit her pretty hard."

"A minor contusion, but I don't believe it explains the seriousness of her condition. She is obviously old and in fragile health, but…there is something else." Reed said sounding distinctly worried as he walked over to one of his viewscreens, "I almost missed it, it's so small, but here…let me show you the x-ray."

Tapping a few keys on the console beneath the screen an image of a human skull appeared in much greater detail than one would get from a conventional x-ray.

"It's at the base of her skull…in the medulla oblongata. A small cylindrical object has been implanted deep within the brain step. It appears to be giving off a series of puleses which are interfering with the function of her central nervous system. I've seen a lot and…I've never seen anything like this. If the object is not removed soon…her heart is going to shut down and she will die." Reed explained as the screen zoomed in on the location of the implanted device, "I'm calling in one of the top surgeons in the country, but we need permission from the next of kin. If you know who—"

"I'll contact them." He said as he lifted the bottom half of his mask to give her a light kiss, "I'm an old friend of the family's."

"Good." Reed said sounding happy that one issue had been resolved.

"I'm not going to lose again." He whispered quietly enough that only Xander and his Aunt would be able to hear him.

"We are planning on removing the device tonight, but I've got to admit…I'm not sure what we're dealing with, or what the results will be. I do know that it's the only way to save this lady's life." Reed said sounding uncertain about the nature of Osborn's device.

"I'll go to the Goblin. I'll find out what the thing is before you need to operate." He said moving to the open window in order to prepare to shoot a webline.

"Count me in." Xander said stepping forward to join him, "I'll be your back up. There's no way of knowing what sort of tricks that madman has yet to pull out of his sleeve."

"But what about—" he tried to say but fell silent at the shaking of Xander's head.

"If she's not safe in the company of the Fantastic Four then she's not safe anywhere." Xander said sprouting his dragon wings from his back, "Face it: I'm your shadow from here on out."

"Fine. Let's go." He said shooting out a webline to a neighboring building before swinging away.

He had an appointment with a demented Goblin.

* * *

_**Osborn Industries Corporate Headquarters, C.E.O Office, One Hour Later, Norman Osborn's P.O.V**_

_Ahhhh! It feels good to be a god!_ Osborn thought as he sat in his office enjoying one of his more expensive cigars, _And to think it will only get better from here._

He could feel the power tingling through his body, the wisdom infiltrating every synapse of his mind, and it was still not finished empowering him with the most powerful prize of the Ceremony of the Five. His mind was a dance with the images of the events to come with the best parts being the revenge he would obtain exacting painful retribution on all those who dared to defy him in the past. He couldn't help but chuckle at the things to come. Before that could happen though there was one last thing that needed to be done before he could start to close the book on his past as a mere mortal.

**KTASH**

"WHY, NORMAN? WHY?!" yelled Parker as he crashed through the window on the opposite side of the room.

_So predictable!_ He thought before saying to the fool, "Took you longer than I anticipated, m'boy. You just keep on disappointing me. I assume the truth has been revealed."

"What did you do to her? What is that thing in her skull?" Peter asked angrily as he marched over towards him like the hero he pretended to be.

"Look at you…you still dance to whatever tune I play, m'boy." He said as he got up from his chair grabbing his mask as he went, "As you have for years. As soon will the entire world! Our little melodrama is coming to its inevitable conclusion. You had to have known that sooner or later one of us was going to have to die. I am speaking of a **real** death, m'boy! None of this returning from the grave. I have managed it once, but I would not recommend such a thing for mere mortals."

It was rather annoying that that black armored do gooder had accompanied Parker but he supposed that Peter needed as much help as he could get. After all if the little man couldn't match him when he was a mere mortal then he would be completely overwhelmed without any sort of help. The black armored mortal was quite strong and perhaps he would make a worthy minion for him in his new world. Only time would tell he supposed.

"What does this have to do with my Aunt, Norman? She was an old woman. She never hurt anyone. Why?" Peter yelled as he threw the rather expensive wooden desk across the room to clear a path.

"She, like the rest of the population of this planet, are nothing more than tools, fodder for the greatest advance in human evolution since man crawled out of the swamps and stood upright: the time has come, Peter." He said as he pulled his mask on and made sure it fit in place, "The time has come for the world to learn the true power which is the Green Goblin. A power bestowed upon me by the Gathering of the Five ceremony. The power of a GOD!"

"You are insane, Norman." Peter said like the pathetic mortal he was.

"Definitely someone who's had his circuits fried, crossed and flambed." Spoke Spider-man's armored ally.

"No. One of the other participants in the ceremony received that gift." He explained feeling the need to point out that little detail.

"Fine, Norman, you're a god." Peter said obviously still a skeptic, "Why not humor me and tell me what you've got in store for the rest of us mere mortals."

"Don't try to play me, Parker, you're out of your league. But I don't mind showing you." He said as he began to move to the window that he'd been sitting in front of, "Come, I'll demonstrate the power I wield and how I will reshape the world to be as I will it! If you want answers all you have to do is look through this window. Twice now you've witnessed the results of my DNA bomb. Earlier this week I demonstrated it on a corporate rival and then earlier tonight at my hunting lodge. Yes. Those mutated plants and animals were the result of the technology I now have at hand. Now watch those below. Watch and learn."

"NO!" exclaimed both Parker and his friend as they attempted to restrain him but it was too little too late.

"No! What are you doing? Do you think we would let you—" Peter decared as he foolishly attempted to show that he had superior strength.

Lunacy.

"Have you heard nothing that I have said? You have no choice! Neither of you do!" he declared before freeing himself from their grasp, "Now **watch**! Witness the power of the Goblin God!"

Watching the scene below he watched as the product of his brilliance was blown into the room through the vents placed at strategic points throughout the room below.

Then the fun began as the mortals below began to melt like wax sculptures placed beneath the most potent heat lamps.

"Fear not. For I am a benevolent god. Their pain will be brief." He said standing proudly at his achievement, "They're not dead. They've simply been reduced to their component DNA structure. Soon, when I deem fit, I'll reform them in my own image and to do my own bidding. But neither you not your friend will live to see their rebirth. There's no place for either of you in my new order. Our game is over. I have a more traditional death in mind for a pair of annoyances like you two."

Then like the predictably simpletons they were both attempted to deliver their best strikes and while he felt the impacts it mattered not. His newly acquired godhood made their blows like unto the softest of breezes and once they realized this he reached out with both of his hands to wrap his fingers around their necks before lifting the duo off the ground.

"An admirable effort you two." He said as he squeezed both of their necks tighter, "One that would have perhaps knocked me unconscious once upon a time. But that time is long past!"

Feeling their feeble attempts at freeing themselves from his unbreakable grip both slow and weaken as they began to exhaust their supplies of oxygen.

"Come, come. Don't pass out on me yet you two." He said as he threw both of them back through the hole that Parker had created to make his dramatic entrance, "We've got much more to talk about!"

Watching the two of them plummet to the ground completely incapable of rallying their minds to do anything to prevent their descent he leapt onto his nearby glider and swooped down to snatch Parker by the back of his clownish costume. He cared not what happened to the other and wagered that if the fool survived the fall he would catch up to them soon enough.

"Not to worry, m'boy, I've got you!" he said as he carried the fly in his grasp over the city below, "I have no desire to see our long-standing feud end with you a mere blue and red stain on the sidewalk. Very anti-climactic. I want to revel in my victory over you. Our final battle deserves a far more public forum. Some place in which the world can witness my newfound godhood…and your final, crushing defeat! Don't you believe they deserve that much?"

It was a bit disappointing that his foe was putting up so little resistance to his current predicament. He recalled vividly how fiery their past battles were and this was quite the disappointment.

"You're not putting up much of a fight there m'boy. What's the problem? Feeling uninspired?" he asked as he began to head to a fitting place for the mortal's death, "Maybe you need just a little more knowledge to juice you up. Fine…I was saving the best for last. And this does concern you. You and dear, sweet Aunt May. As you know, since I returned from the dead, I have been making quite the reputation for myself as a philanthropist. The Norman Osborn charity machine has spread far and wide around the country and around the world.

"Well…I've been using those charitable organizations to distribute thousands of DNA bombs, just like the one you witnessed tonight. Innocuous looking things, and pretty harmless left to themselves." He explained as he brought them closer to their target destination, "But the bombs need a trigger, a catalyst, before they will detonate around the world. Ready for this, m'boy? The key, the trigger which will set off my DNA bombs in a chain reaction…it's inside your beloved Aunt May's skull."

Sensing the approach of Parker's winged friend coming from behind he let loose a volley of pumpkin bombs both at the advancing enemy as well as at the hapless twits below as an added distraction should the armored idiot evade the ones sent his way. Sadly it appeared as though the Power Ranger reject wasn't much better than the wall crawler in defying his newly obtained godhood as all the explosives he'd sent at the metal clad fool hit their marks flawlessly. It brought a smile to his face seeing the bug plummet to the street below in flames.

"The very thing that is killing her, the thing which you've undoubtably arranged to have taken out will start the chain reaction when it is released into the air. As soon as it is exposed to oxygen…everything kicks into gear. The world becomes nothing more than primordial clay for me to mold." He explained reveling in the glorious nature of his plan, "And you've helped bring all this about. Despite my godhood…I feel the need for your death to be public and slow. I want you to suffer and know that there is nothing you can do to prevent your Aunt's death and the end of the world as you know it!"

With those words he released his captive to gravity's tender mercy only to plummet down onto a car causing the roof to crumple and its windows to shatter. However they were still a fair way away from the venue he'd chosen for the final moments of their feud so he swooped down and plucked the limp Peter Parker from the wrecked roof of the car.

"It has always been about your suffering Parker…suffering for the indignities you have inflicted upon my family name through the years. When your Aunt had her stroke and before I revealed that I was alive I decided to seize upon the opportunity to add to your troubles. I utilized the DNA cloning technology which biologist Miles Warren had secretly been developing for me to infuse your Aunt May's genetic matrix into that of another woman who was an elderly actress who believed this to be her greatest role." He said as he resumed his flight towards the final stage of this fight, "She was unaware it would be her last. Over time, the actress assumed all the bodily proportions and facial features of one May Parker. Then she studied May's mannerisms and voice inflections over months until the two women were indistinguishable. It was perhaps my most sublime achievement. My ultimate instrument of your torture! I even informed the actress of your alternate identity so she would be certain mention it to you—leading you to believe your Aunt knew you were Spider-Man all along.

"The familial tragedy was played out while your Aunt was secured away by my people. You mourned over an old woman you never knew, Parker. And from the shadows, I laughed…deeply and long. Hahahahahaha!" he said before letting out his amusement for all to see.

Finally coming up on the destination he decided the time had come to start the grand finale. Tossing the fool to the ground in front of the Daily Bugle he began to use pumpkin bombs to tear apart the concrete around him.

"Here we are, m'boy! This is where it all comes to an end. The Daily Bugle, J. Jonah Jameson's bastion of journalistic integrity and his own venomous launching platform for his personal vendetta against you. And to think that you believed **me** to be your worst enemy!" he said continuing the bombardment while choosing targets at random, "You've hidden your secret from your friends at the Daily Bugle for too long now. Working side by side with them even as J. Jonah Jameson sent you all scurrying about for the real dirt on Spider-man. Now they're going to learn the truth. But not to worry. They will be taking it to their graves. Gather round my fellows. Jonah, Robbie, Ben, Betty and all the rest. Look ipon the face of your greatest nightmare. Look and see…**Peter Parker** is **Spider-Man**!"

He waited until maximum dramatic effect had been achieved and then pulled out his most potent explosive pumpkin before throwing it so that it would detonate right in Parker's face.

"That's enough! Now say goodbye!" he yelled as the explosives blew sky high engulfing his foe in both flames and shrapnel.

As the smoke cleared he saw the most glorious sight he'd seen since he first beheld his godly form after the Gathering of the Five ceremony.

The still and lifeless form of one Peter Parker aka Spider-Man!

"HAHAHAHA! I did it! After all these years! I **did** it!" he yelled out in amazement at the fact that it was all finally over with, "I KILLED SPIDER-MAN!!"

* * *

_**The Front of the Daily Bugle, **_

_**Twenty Minutes After the Confrontation at Osborn Industries Corporate HQ, Xander's P.O.V**_

"I know this was pretty obvious before but this guy is completely psycho." Xander said as he dropped down beside Spider-man who had successfully defeated and restrained Osborn.

It had been a difficult fight even with the two of them double teaming the Green Goblin and it was anyone's guess as to whether this was because of the so called Gathering Norman kept referring to or simply because the man was completely off his rocker. From the beginning of the fight he'd let Peter do the most of the fighting while he stayed on damage control intercepting the pumpkin bombs and other party favors Osborn threw around. In most cases he was able to fling the bombs back into the air where he could detonate them safely but other times he had no choice but to let them impact against his armor rather than a building or a civilian. It hadn't been easy and more than a few times he almost didn't make it in time to intercept one of the Goblin's weapons but lady luck must have taken pity on him. In the end, twenty minutes later, he'd say it was worth it because aside from some scared people the damage to the city from here to the bastard's office was pretty minimal. A few demolished signs that the psycho had flown through but nothing that would keep people from going about their daily routine or anything. Plus considering that this was NYC he was pretty sure that just about every business had superhero or superhuman insurance in order to cope with the weekly battles.

"Spider-man's dead and I'm king of the world! Boom! BOOM! **BOOM**!" Osborn ranted from his restrained position under what had to be at least an inch or two of webbing, "DNA bombs are going **BOOM**! Everybody turning to mush!"

"Definitely missing a few coins from his piggy bank brain." Peter agreed as reporters and police began to converge on their location, "We better get moving before the media vultures get any closer. We might've stopped the Goblin's rampage but I don't think old Jameson is going to care all that much. Plus we have to get to Reed before he starts the operation."

With that the webhead shot off a webline before zipping into the air and swinging his way as quickly as he could for the current location of the Fantastic Four's HQ. He was about to leave himself when he noticed a forty something man with a flat top and a Hitler mustache ordering about a bunch of people outside of the Daily Bugle using words like 'wall crawling' and 'menace' quite often. He could only guess that this must be the infamous J. Jonah Jameson who ran the Daily Bugle with an iron fist and regularly printed headlines making Pete look as bad as the criminals he apprehended. He'd heard about the man from Ben almost from the day that he started working at the Daily Grind and he couldn't believe that someone to be such an ass towards Spider-Man without any real proof. Oh sure the penny pinching newsman could twist existing facts to paint the web slinger in a more nefarious light but anyone who knew of the older man's vendetta could see right through the smear job. Looking at the scene around him he could easily picture the words that would likely be splashed across tomorrow's edition of the Daily Bugle.

_Not this time._ He thought as he spotted the largest clump of newshounds and went with his gut.

Walking towards him he knew the instant a lady TV reporter with the microphone that had the number seven on it spotted him and figured she'd be as good as anyone to give the exclusive to.

"Excuse me! You in the Power Ranger outfit! Sarah Chan from Channel Seven News! Can you tell us what happened?" asked the Asian woman extending her microphone towards him.

_Not this again!_ He thought as he groaned at the fact that he was being compared to those cookie cutter heroes again.

"Certainly Ms. Chan. Spider-Man and I successfully stopped the Green Goblin from setting off a chain reaction with a series of genetic explosives that he had planted at virtually all Norman Osborn Charity buildings throughout the world." He replied doing his best to edit out the things that could cause complications, "If he'd been allowed to have his way it the explosives would have released a gaseous cloud that would have severed the bonds holding the DNA of every biological entity on the planet. Fortunately we managed to get him away from the trigger in time and defeat him with minimal damage to the city. As we speak my comrade Spider-Man is on his way to tie up the final loose end and give Reed Richards of the Fantastic Four the information he needs to handle the explosives themselves."

"How did the Green Goblin manage to do this? There's never been any record of him ever having the resources needed to carry out a scheme on this level." Ms. Chan asked after her eyes lit up with victory since he was responding to her questions.

"Both myself and Spider-Man have our suspicions but for the time being all I can say that we suspect that someone at Osborn Industries may have been supporting the Green Goblin in both equipment as well as money." He said deciding at the last minute that implicating Norman would not work.

"Do you have any suspects?" Sarah asked not wanting to let a single detail slip through her fingers.

"None that I can list on camera Ms. Chan. I cannot give any of them any advance warning of where the webhead and I are going with our investigation." He replied as he willed his wings to sprout from his back and out of his armor, "Now if you'll excuse me I have to be on my way. See ya!"

"WAIT! Can you at least tell the viewing audience your name?" Ms. Chan asked looking determined to at least get one more bit of info out of him.

He pondered that question for a moment wondering how to respond before he figured he might as well go with the one that Wolverine had slapped on him in Washington. It was what would be in the government files by now and if he was honest with himself he couldn't really think of a more fitting one.

"Call me Dragon Knight."

With that he leapt into the air and used his wings to gain altitude quickly so as to not give the media any more chances to ask their questions. He'd put the truth before them, slightly edited for Pete's benefit, and now it was time to sit back hoping that he had managed to severely restrain what Jameson could do in tomorrow's Daily Bugle. By the time the newspapers hit the stand tomorrow his little news bite would likely have been replayed on TV at least ten times on each channel.

_Old flattop is going to have to either print the truth like everyone else or get exposed as a biased hateful man who twists the headlines to suit his own personal grudges._ He thought as he angled his flight in the direction Peter had gone in, _Talk about win-win._


	26. Sinister Silicon Secrets

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the copyrighted materials shown herein. They are the rightful property of their respective creators and associated companies. I make no profit off of this fanfic whatsoever. I write because I enjoy writing fanfic and because there are those that enjoy reading my stories. I heavily recommend all thoughts of lawsuits be dropped because you'll almost certainly wind up spending more than you'd get back.

_**One Week Later, A Glacial Range in Tajikinistan, The Former Soviet Republics, Sunset**_

_**Xander's P.O.V**_

_Why am I here in this oversized ice box?_ Xander thought as he lowered himself and Bishop down into the icy chasm while Storm lowered Psylocke.

The answer came in the form of the memory of when he'd returned to the X-Mansion after his little adventure with Peter. He hadn't been in the door for more than five minutes before Marrow had shown up and promptly wrapped her arms around his right one while asking how NYC had been. That hadn't been so bad since the teenage Morlock had been in an almost happy mood as opposed to acting like she'd been force fed a barrel of lemons. So he'd answered her questions as he proceeded to the living room, where he hoped Storm or Wolverine would be so he could tell them about his failed attempt to enlist Dr. Strange's assistance in locating Professor Xavier. However, when he'd arrived there, he not only found Wolverine but also Deathbird, who quickly made it clear that she didn't approve of the bone girl taking certain liberties with him. He'd tried to say that it was okay and that the two of them were just friends but, before he could get more than three words out, Sarah had fired back with a couple of insults about the Aerie woman's age as well as the plastic surgery that went into her chest. Things pretty much went downhill from there until he'd been forced to drag the formerly sewer-dwelling girl out into the back yard while Wolverine tried to cool down the Shi'ae Regent. Personally he figured only time would do that since delicate with words Logan was not and he half figured that the Canucklehead would probably try to poke at the woman's warrior honor and make it seem dishonorable to let a Morlock's insults get her feathers ruffled. He, on the other hand, had tried to make Sarah understand the error of her ways by mixing a little humor with tips on getting her hits in on Cal' without sparking a fight.

Of course, if his words ever made it back to the member of House Neramani, then he'd pay for it in pain ten times over in the makeshift Danger Room.

It had been the next day when he'd managed to make his report to Storm and Wolverine but, as it turned out, they'd managed to make significant progress of their own. As it turned out the Cerebro unit that used to belong to the Exalibur team had arrived earlier than expected thanks to some favors that had been called in from people in the transport and customs areas. They had also managed to do a search with the device, causing two locations to pop up as to where Charles Xavier was at the moment. He'd inquired about if they'd intensified the search to determine which of the two was the real one but he'd then found out that just after they'd nailed down the two locations the Cerebro unit had blown a fuse. They'd tried to get it going again but in the end they'd had to order out for a part that would take longer than they were willing to wait for it to arrive. So, in the end, they'd decided to divide the team into two and search both locations for the founder of their team. He'd been willing to go with either team at first to help them out but, when he'd spotted the signs of Sarah and Cal' getting ready to go at it again, he immediately 'volunteered' to go on the one team that neither the Shi'ar woman nor the Morlock were on. He'd pretended that he didn't want to cause friction on that team since his presence would only heat things up between the two girls but the real reason was he didn't want to become the target of their ire.

He'd learned the hard way with that botched Valentine's Day spell how quickly you could go from two or more girls acting like a pair of teenie boppers to the man they had their eyes on to being murderously jealous she-devils out for blood.

It'd taken some doing but he'd been able to sneak out with Storm's team thanks to Psylocke using her shadow teleport abilities. He imagined he'd have two miffed females to contend with when all this was over and done with but he'd jump off that bridge when he came to it.

Seeing the bottom of the chasm coming closer, he decided to get his mind back on the mission setting both him and his passenger next to the rest of the group.

"…do **not** leap onto his back and yell 'chicken fight'." Said Colossus now that he was in hearing range.

That had been what had caused the sudden airborne descent into the chasm that had their destination built into the side of it. Colossus had gone to the edge of the chasm to look for a way down and to see if there'd be any sort of obstacles like animals or people that they'd have to overcome. Then out of nowhere Gambit had gotten it into his head to become a ten year old again by jumping on the steel man's back like it was some sort of game. That was when the strong man of their group had lost his balance and fallen off the edge, shortly after Remy had lost his grip and fallen from the edge of the chasm. Rogue had gone after Colossus since she was the only one with the brute strength to grab hold of him and slow him down while Storm had divided her attention between carrying down Psylocke and saving Mr. LeBeau. That had left him to help Bishop down but thankfully, unless whoever he was carrying weighed something equal to a school bus, he didn't have any trouble with it.

"Kaff, Kaff, Geez…try an' bring some **kaff** levity to de situation…" Remy said, coughing up the snow he'd accidentally ate, "So how far off track did my little game take us-? Oh…well…seems I'm not a complete screw-up, non?"

"I wouldn't exactly say that, Remy LeBeau…" Rogue replied to the no doubt rhetorical question, "But you did save us a long climb down inta this hole."

Looking about, he had to admit that the sight of the skillfully carved buildings in the ice where quite the sight, though he'd be damned if he could name a style or area of the world they were based on. Normally he'd say that since they were in an area that was formally of the Soviet Union that it was Russian but you could never tell with these out of the way places.

"It's beautiful…!" Colossus exclaimed as he took in the scenery, "How could anyone have built such a magnificent structure…here?"

"I'm thinking either religious people or some rich family who fancied having a palace of ice made for them." He replied as he dispelled his dragon wings, causing them to turn to black ash before falling to the ground, "Still, whoever might still live here obviously hasn't been taking care of the place all that well. It's got dents and holes everywhere."

"That may well be, Xander. Nevertheless steel yourselves, X-Men." Storm said as she began to walk in the direction of their final destination, "The first leg of our trek is over, but we have many trials before us for within this temple of ice may lie our missing friend and mentor…the man who is at the heart of two recent mysteries we've encountered. Here, we begin our search for Professor Xavier."

While he considered Ororo a good friend, he had to admit that she could be a tad melodramatic at times when she spoke. He supposed it came from the time she was worshiped as a weather goddess or maybe her idea of what a leader should be, but it still sounded like she liked the sound of her own voice sometimes.

"He'd better be here. Hate to spend this much time in de snow f'r nothin'…" Gambit said grumpily as he took up the rear position in the group.

"Hey, not our fault your powers don' keep you warm like Colossus', Storm's an' mine but you ain't gonna get any warmer standing round bellyachin' about it, sugah." Rogue stated, covertly warning her love interest against further complaints.

"Look at it this way, Remy: I think I'm actually colder than you 'cause while this armor might be great at protecting me from attacks it does about as much good keeping me warm as a housecoat would." He said trying to cheer the Cajun up some, "The only think keeping me from freezing to death is my healing factor."

"Too bad you ain' got some o dat to pass on to me, mon frère." Gambit said sounding a little less whiny, "'cause right now this Cajun boy take anythin' he can get to get a li'l bit warmer."

"Trust me, you wouldn't like what comes with it." He muttered thinking about what might happen if someone else were to get infected by the essence of Kung Lung.

He shuddered in a way that had nothing to do with the cold.

_I won't let this be anyone else's burden but mine! _He thought with strong resolve in his heart.

With that in mind the group proceeded deeper into the temple carved into the cliff's of ice and, as they went, he began to think that it wasn't lack of maintenance but rather battle damage that caused the place to look like it did. Some of the few pieces of wood he came across looked way too new to be in pieces because of age or rotting. Add that to the signs of fire and the craters in some of the buildings were clear signs of something destructive hitting it hard, something hot, and that made him think that perhaps they weren't the only ones looking for Xavier.

It took about twenty minutes but eventually they came to a large door that looked like it had just barely withstood some sort of bombardment.

"Clearly, there has been a battle here. If Charles is indeed inside, he has seen some trouble." Storm said as she scanned the area with the mini-Cerebro she had in her hands, "And assuming that this hand-held Cerebro unit is functioning properly, inside is exactly where the professor is."

"Hey, Gumbo, ah'm gettin' bored breakin' your shoes. How 'bout we share a little body hear t'put you in a better mood." Whispered Rogue just quietly enough so that only the parties involved could hear.

The southern girl obviously had forgotten about his enhanced senses but he did what he could to block out the flirting that came afterwards so as to afford the couple some privacy.

"All right, X-Men, let us focus." Storm said finishing taking what readings were needed, "The hand-held Cerebro isn't as strong as the one back at the Institute but it is calibrated to only seek out Charles' mutant bio-signature. As such we can be fairly confident that he is indeed inside, even if the signal is somewhat faint.

"However, since we located two such signatures upon our initial scan for him, we cannot be sure that it will be Xavier who we find inside. The doppleganger we met leading those false X-Men in Cape Citadel was convincing to say the least, and perhaps he has Cerebro fooled as well." Storm said summarizing their current strategic situation, "If that is the case, we will deal with the imposter severely. Either way, expect a hostile environment and be ready to act on a moment's notice."

"A suggestion Storm? Have Psylocke slip in there for a second with her shadow teleport to do a little recon. I'd think it'd be a good thing to find out if we're dealing with one big threat or several smaller ones." He said as he was having no luck trying to make heads or tails out of the battle damage he'd seen so far.

"Agreed. Betsy? If you would." Storm said while turning to the purple haired ninja.

"Back in a tick." Ms. Braddock said as she dropped into Collosus' shadow and out of sight.

They waited for all of fifteen seconds before Psylocke yelled back "Everyone get in here NOW!"

Assuming that the ninja of the team was in trouble, he didn't hesitate to charge the door and neither did Colossus which meant, with both of them ramming their shoulders into the door, it didn't stay in one piece for very long. Once they were through though, both he and the Russian stopped in their tracks at the sight that lay before them, the possibility of him blowing chunks rising with every direction he looked in. Arrayed out in almost every direction were corpses of the people who lived in this temple but he could tell with a glance that none of them were alive. If it wasn't the gaping wounds it was most definitely the lifeless eyes that were widened in horror that confirmed that for him.

"By the white wolf, there has to be at least fifty of them!" Pioter gasped as he looked around in shock at how the scenery could go from breathtakingly beautiful to just plain horrifying.

"Dead... dead wit' terror frozen on dere faces." Gambit said with a look of past demons in his eyes.

"They must be the monks who lived here. What could have done this? Those false X-Men!" Rogue asked, finding the place no less horrible than the others.

"I believe we shall find the answers we seek, as well as the butcher responsible for this massacre, beyond that barrier." Storm said pointing out a wall of ice at the far end of the great hall.

"Assuming the butcher hasn't found us already and is waiting to jump out, fangs bared." He said almost too softly for anyone else to hear, "Considering I don't see any signs that these monks were able to fight back, I'd say whatever or whoever did this was fast, deadly and terrifying."

"Then it's a good thing we have a big strong man like yourself to kill the scary monster!" Betsy said playfully leaning into his space for a moment while putting on the 'innocent little girl' routine.

He didn't think she was fooling anyone.

Elizabeth Braddock was many things but innocent wasn't one of them.

"Unless the thing likes lizard, then you'll have about a five minute head start while it's eating me to get away." He joked back, although he'd make sure anything that tried to eat him choked after the first bite.

By this time the group had arrived at the wall of ice and he had to marvel at how smooth and reflective the surface was. Most mirrors wouldn't even come close to how clear a reflection it provided. Tapping into some of the dragon king's power to allow his eyes to see more, he could tell that there was more to the thing in front of them then he was seeing but not precisely what the 'more' was.

"Pretty, non?" asked Gambit as he examined his reflection in the mirror-like surface, "An' the mirror's not half bad, either."

"Gambit, we are all upset about the fallen monks, but now is not the time for nervous chatter." Storm reprimanded while she divided her attention between the object in front of her an the Cerebro, "Cerebro is picking up the Professor behind this wall, as if it is not even there."

"Could be some sort of illusion." He theorized as he continued to shift through multiple magical spectrums to get a grip on the wall in front of him, "Good enough to fool the physical senses and seriously pissing me off with confusing the magical."

"Another mystery. I'm tired of mysteries." Colossus said with irritation gaining strength in his voice, "With your permission, Storm, I would get to the bottom of this one immediately. Stand ready, Rogue."

"Ready and waitin', sugah." Rogue said with her usual bravado.

With that said Peter poked two fingers into the reflective wall in front of them and, to everyone's surprise, the surface in front of them behaved as liquid to his actions.

"Curioser and Curiouser, eh?" Peter said as he withdrew his fingers revealing that no damage had been done to them.

"Nah…jus' smells like a trap t'me, Alice," Gambit said, showing his old thieving ways. "'Course can't be worse den hanging around out here wit' de dead. Ready or not, Professor, here come de cavalry."

With that all seven of them walked into the wall that looked solid but wasn't and entered a place they would not soon forget.

_**Within the Wall, Psylocke's P.O.V**_

_Worse than that acid trip I took while undercover in Ireland! _Betsy thought as she tried to make the world snap back into the form it should be in.

However both willpower and telepathy proved to be lacking the necessary oomph to reset reality back to where it should be. No matter how hard she tried to force things back into place with her mind, the world around her just keep morphing into something more abstract than before. Looking around, she felt as though she'd almost twisted her own neck off for a moment but for reasons she didn't particularly care about her skull stayed firmly attached. She could see the others floating about, wherever they were, and only Rogue seemed to be coping with this bizarre environment at all. The rest of them were either experiencing serious vertigo or couldn't find a means of propelling themselves where they wanted to go. Xander looked like he was doing everything he could to keep from throwing up to the point of ignoring the outside world in favor of keeping his insides on the inside.

Not that she could blame him, considering she was getting a little quesy herself.

"Eh-whatt's hhhapppeningggg?" She heard Storm manage to get out amidst her vertigo, "X-Men! Ccccan anyonnnne hear mmmmee?"

"Da, Storm…I can hear…but I can't move…no footing…I…" Colossus replied looking like the nausea was catching up with him as well.

"Hold on, Peter! Ah'm comin' f'r ya!" Rogue said as she flew towards the Russian, "Got you right in mah sights!"

"Rogue? How…how can you navigate this?" Peter asked with a shaky voice.

"Truth is, sugah, once you've had three or four personalities at a time runnin' in yer skull altered states of reality become second nature." Replied the Southern Belle as she grabbed hold of her target by the shoulder, "If y'all weren't in such bad shape, ah'd actually be enjoyin' this!"

"You're a very sick girl, chere." Gambit muttered, sounding like he was sliding down the same slope of well-being as the rest of the group.

Forcing as much of the unpleasantness wracking her body to the side, she began trying to test the environment, utilizing every method of movement she knew of to see if she could also navigate it. Tapping into her shadow teleport ability, she tried to move to the position of the X-Man closest to her but the moment she began to feel a trickle of the ability granted to her by the Crimson Dawn, it suddenly became a flood. Unprepared for such a massive implementation of her ability, she found herself being sucked towards the dark armored form of Dragon Knight. It was only due to the iron will that all X-Men developed over the course of the first few years on the team that she was able to clamp down on her power stopping her almost completely before she made contact with the young man's armor.

_Let's not do that again, Luv! _She thought resolutely as she tried to think of a safer method to get the team back into one place.

Just then she felt a massive surge of something behind her and just turned in time to see Storm slam into some sort of wall that was unlikely to have been her intention. Ororo didn't strike her as a masochist. The one good thing to come out of it, though, was that the world around them seemed to revert a bit closer to what all sane beings considered normal. This allowed her to stand on something and begin to move towards the rest of the group with everyone following suite once they got their walking legs back.

"Storm! You alright, chere?" Gambit asked since he was the first person to get to the Wind Rider.

"Did not know... which way was up…but as soon as I cried out…the distortions in reality ceased." Ororo replied as the last of the team reached her position.

"Are you feeling better, Xander?" Bishop asked, looking only a little off balance from the whole ordeal.

"I'll let you know when my stomach finishes signing a peace agreement with the rest of my body." Harris replied, looking like he was having a harder time shaking off the effects than the rest of them.

"Just keep sucking in the air, Luv." She said encouragingly as she placed a comforting hand on his shoulder, "Your body'll right itself soon enough."

"Storm, are we through the worst of it?" Rogue asked obviously considering the exit their top priority at the moment.

"I cannot say, Rogue. According to Cerebro, we should be right on top of Charles. This makes no sense!" Ororo replied with a bit of frustration.

"Makes for a doozy of a defense, sugah." Rogue said warily eying the surrounding area, "How do ya get past a place that doesn't follow any rules?"

Before anyone could answer again, their world spun out of control once more with the marbles of reality rolling all over the place. Reality tilted on its side and attacked them with their fears as Storm seemed to stretch and fly around like a cloud on the wind while the normally invulnerable Colossus had everything but his torso cut up into even portions. However the most bizarre that she could see while trying to keep her own head from popping like a balloon was Xander, whose body appeared to be stretching into something distinctly more Asian dragon in form. She tried to move towards him to offer what comfort she could but the mess the place was making of her head meant observation was all she could do for the moment.

"Rogue! Chere, what's happening?" Gambit cried out while looking like a living flaming effigy, "I'm on fire…how…"

"It's us Remy…us…don't think!" Rogue said as somehow her proximity to the Cajun seemed to return everything to normal, "Don't try to be logical! Just look at me and feel, Remy…FEEL!"

She was shocked by this radical approach but at the same time she couldn't help but feel that it fit perfectly with what was going on. In this strange world, rational thought and logic was descended upon like a piece of meat in piranha-infested waters then torn to shreds. However emotions weren't logical, weren't rational, and so it could very well be the solution to this cage that instead of fighting it with their minds they should allow their emotions free reign.

"Open your hearts, X-Men! Your emotions are the key!" Ororo called out, pointing the way to victory just like always.

Looking within herself, she sought out the strongest emotions, the strongest memories, she had and once she found them she drowned herself in them. Some might think it was her sense of duty or perhaps the memory of a past love that she wrapped herself in but her emotion was much more general in nature but all-encompassing at the same time.

Pleasure.

That one emotion and all the things she'd experienced in her life that had produced that feeling in her was what she now used to combat the abstract space that surrounded them. The pleasure of accomplishment, the pleasure of a finely cooked meal and especially the pleasure of the activities she partook in from her bed with a chosen man. Almost imperceptibly she could feel the chaos of where she was being pushed away and this caused her to intensify the feelings she had found even more.

"NOW, X-Men. STRIKE! With all the strength of your hearts and bodies!" Storm declared with electricity bouncing on her fists, "STRIKE!"

With that the assembled team of X-Men lashed out with their combined destructive powers, shattering the world around them as though it were made of glass. When the last of the shards had fallen to the ground she, as well as the others, made a rather surprising discovery.

"I don't believe it… All that… all that pain—" Colossus said in disbelief as he looked about, "—And we haven't moved an inch from where we started."

"Definitely some kind of illusion or mind trick and considering we're here looking for the world's strongest telepath, I'd lay even odds that Xavier is the one that set it up." Xander said, sounding a little ticked about what he'd been put through.

Ticked enough to have a few cross words with the Professor when they met.

"That is unlikely, Alexander." Storm said as she used the mini-Cerebro to lock onto the signal they'd been tracking, "According to all the information we have, the Professor is no longer in possession of his telepathic abilities and according to these readings out goal is right over…there? Charles?"

The sight that greeted their eyes made them all wonder if the machines Ororo held was working right because before them stood two people. One a woman in her mid-twenties with short blonde hair dressed for cold weather with a distinct look of annoyance on her face. The other was what looked like a little girl about seven or eight years of age with solid dark blue eyes also dressed for the cold and with a stuffed rabbit in her arms.

"My god… How could I have been so blind?" Asked the older woman rhetorically as a truth became known to her, "You're the X-Men! Nina, they're the X-Men…"

"See? I told you Renee…" said Nina in a soft kind voice, "I'm really sorry I hurt you guys, but Charley told me to, before we knew you were real people. He's not the real Charles, so he makes mistakes, but he's my friend, and he helps me think what to do. He helps me keep away the monsters."

"Anyone else think we were better off in the mirror?" Rogue asked, sounding like she was now more confused than she'd been in that chaos trap.

"You said it, chere," declared Gambit agreeing with his on-again, off-again girlfriend.

"But you let him inside…the worst monster of all…" Nina said pointing back the way the team had come, "…His name is Cerebro."

Turning to look in the direction indicated, all were shocked once more but this time in horror at the form that stood over the corpses of the monks. Seemingly made out of pure energy with the exception of techno-shoulder pads, a skull with a spine attached and a mess of wires was a creature that only bore a vague resemblance to descriptions she'd heard of the fake Xavier the others had encountered at Cape Citadel.

Nevertheless, it looked nasty and none too friendly.

"Perimeter breached. Target located…" spoke the creature in synthesized tones, "Executing primary command set…secure Xavier. Eliminate all mutant opposition."

_Nope. Not a friendly little bugger at all._ She thought as she slipped into a fighting stance and primed her psi-knife.

_**Ten Minutes Later, Inside the Ice Temple, Storm's P.O.V**_

_What __**is**__ this abomination!_ Storm asked as she watched it eat one of her lightning bolts as though it were nothing.

It had only been ten minutes since they'd begun battling and already both Rogue and Betsy were on the ground, either hurt or unconscious. Colossus was in the creature's grip and somehow was being forced back into his non-metallic state and that was not good, considering the monster looked to be ready to snap the strong X-Man in two. Gambit was at the things feet but seemed to be having trouble gathering his wits while Bishop was trying to get a steady bead on the thing with his energy pistols. The creature was aware of this and was purposefully keeping Piotr in such a position so as to make a long range attack inadvisable considering the possibility of friendly fire. Xander had already tried several times to lunge in and cut Colossus free but the cuts were always too shallow and healed with a swiftness she'd only seen with Logan.

"Registrants NXM010 and NXM015 Rogue and Gambit isolated and subdued. X-Man registrant ANAD006: Colossus… isolated and utilized as counter measure to ranged attacks." Spoke the monster known as Cerebro, "Registrant Dragon Knight threat level: minimal. Countering attack from registrant ANAD004 Storm… estimated time to securing mission objective…,fifteen seconds."

"Dream on, chromoid! The only thing that's going to happen in fifteen seconds is me stamping down on your flattened head!" Xander shouted before he darted towards his target and delivering two slashes to the monster's right elbow.

While she applauded the young man's spirit, his actions proved for naught as the lacerations he'd created in their opponent flowed back together like water before disappearing as though they'd never been. It seemed as though no matter how hard they attacked the creature it knew precisely how to counter their moves and limit their options. Considering its name, it was highly likely that it was connected to the false Xavier and so it knowing their tactics made a sort of sense. While they still hadn't figured out the origins of the fraud it was their prime suspicion that Bastion had something to do with it. Given that the man had expertly apprehended Cyclop's team on their way back from the Orient it did not bode well for their future chances for victory.

"Your defiance is counterproductive, mutants. I am conversant in both the extents of your mutant powers and your combat abilities." Declared the machine without losing even a single step in countering their movements, "I can execute any of three thousand scenarios which will result in your defeat, and the procurement of the Xavier-manifest, 'Nina'. Cease resistance now, so that you can be cataloged and processed undamaged at a later time—"

"Considerin' that you used t'be an overgrown PC gathern' dust in our basement, you sure are full of yourself." Came a familiar southern drawl from behind her.

A blur of motion caught her eye and with a smile as she watched Rogue re-enter the fight looking determined to deliver swift retribution on the machine that had hurt her. In one swift move female powerhouse succeeded in severing the abomination's arms at the elbow, thus freeing Colossus and allowing Bishop to fire freely.

"Bzzt. Damage sustained to appendages…assault outside scenario parameters…bzzt" spoke the machine as its dismembered hands dropped to the ground.

Flying over to where Rogue was aiding Piotr, she could see that the man was winded from his experience but nothing more.

"Easy there, sugah. You got yer lungs back, use 'em slowly." Rogue said with concern as the Russian coughed his breathing back to normal.

"KOFF…Thank you, Rogue…I COUGH…I was shifting back from…KAFF…armored f-form…blacking out…how did you…" Colossus asked as she approached him.

"Ah think our mystery girl back there had somethin' to do with it." Rogue replied, patting the back of her recovering friend, "But danged if ah know how."

"Very little about this encounter makes sense, Rogue. Instead of Charles Xavier, we find a child with apparent reality-warping powers and a bio-signature identical to his." She said as she kept a close eye on the creature who was dealing with Bishop, Xander and a revived Betsy, "More troublesome is our foe calling itself Cerebro. How did our mutant tracking computer system become **that**?"

By the time she asked this the monstrous machine appeared to be regaining his previous superior position as Xander, Bishop and Psylocke were being forced on the defensive with few opportunities for offense.

"Employing alternate strategy…proceed with immediate scan and catalogue of X-Men in order to expedite collection of Xavier-manifest Nina." Spoke the machine with an almost perceivable shift in its movements.

She was about to turn her attention back to the others in order to lay out a plan of action to reinforce the others when she spotted a slight golden glow coming from Cerebro's feet. It was then she noticed that somehow, most likely with Nina's assistance, Remy was awake and was recklessly charging the floor beneath their enemy's feet. However his ministrations quickly caught the attention of Cerebro and so, with a gesture, she sent a funnel of gale force winds towards her comrade propelling him away from the monster.

A good thing, too, since the Cajun's strategy went off with a bang, engulfing the mechanical monstrosity in a massive explosion. When the smoke cleared all that seemed to be left was a large hole in the ground that appeared to lead to a lower level and nothing that could be connected to their foe. Satisfied that their foe was, for the time, neutralized, she flew over to her thieving friend followed by the others but she was in the mood to tell Remy precisely what she thought of his reckless maneuver.

"REMY LEBEAU! That was the most thick-headed, addle-brained stunt—" she declared angrily as she touched down next to him.

"Perhaps, Storm, but it did succeed in doing significant damage to the enemy." Bishop said as he slid a fresh power cell into his pistol, "However I doubt it's going to last very long. It's already exhibited the ability to re-attach severed limbs and heal battle damage at an enhanced rate."

"I'm with Bishop on this one. What say we relocate someplace quick before the talking lightbulb decides to pull itself back together." Xander said retracting the blades in his fingers and his feet.

"Agreed." She said before turning to the woman Renee, "Is there a defensible room that we can retreat to?"

"Yes but with the barrier Nina erected destroyed, it won't take Cerebro long to find us." Renee replied turning to a door off to the side that led deeper into the temple.

"Then we had best be ready for when it does find us." She stated implying that another confrontation was inevitable anyway.

"Follow me." Renee said before picking up Nina and jogging towards the door.

With that the group descended further into the temple hoping with every step they took that they weren't just digging their own graves.

_**Deep Within the Ice Temple, Twenty Minutes Later, Gambit's P.O.V**_

"Are we clear?" Stormy asked from her spot sitting in front of the Nina girl.

"Da, Storm. This is the only entrance to this portion of the monastery." Colossus replied as he pushed a large slab of ice into place blocking off the only way in, "If that beast tries to get through here…NNGH…we will know it."

"All's well up top, 'Ro!" Rogue called coming in for a landing.

Taking one final look about with his thief-trained eyes he could neither see nor hear anything to make him thing they'd have company some time soon.

"An' here, chere." He declared before turning to face the rest of the group. "Privacy you want, privacy we got."

"Yep. No signs of that thing coming after us so far." Xander said as the golden glow faded from his eyes, "But if you're planning on a Q&A session, you'd best make it quick."

While he might not be a thief by trade, he found himself seeing more and more ways of thinking and doing in Xander that matched some of the Guild members back home. Not necessarily a bad thing, considering the sort of things that the X-Men had a habit of bumping heads with, but it made him wonder about the young man's past. What sort of town did Dragon Knight grow up in to develop survival skills like this? Wherever it was, he wasn't sure he wanted to visit it, even if it could answer some questions he had. Keeping one hand in a pocket where a deck of playing cards were waiting for his gentle touch, he turned his attention back to what the petite fille had to say.

"Can I explain it to them, Nina?" Renee asked from her position just behind the little girl, "Are you ready?"

"I remember you from Charlie's mind, Storm. He likes you. He trusts you a lot." Nina said, taking Ororo's face in her hands, "Are you okay down here underground? I know you don't like it."

"It is difficult for me, but I am inspired by your bravery, little one." Storm replied putting on a brave face for the kid, "I will survive."

"Nina and Charles were both under Bastion's gentle care after Operation: Zero Tolerance." Renee explained as she laid out the entire story, "As you noticed, Nina is very… special young girl. Her telepathic and reality-warping powers are immense, undeveloped and their extent is unknown. Charles knew that she could not be allowed to remain in Bastion's hands.

"So he summoned me to pick Nina up after he snuck her out. Knowing how powerful Nina was, I sought to hide us somewhere safe until Charles could collect her." Renee said, looking down at her charge, "Without so much as a thought Nina brought us here. It seems Charles had spent time with these monks in his youth and they were happy to take us in. Those poor souls. What have we brought upon them? When we were first attacked by the monster, Nina used her power to create a reality altering logic trap. It was a barrier that shifted subtly with each passing analysis by Cerebro, preventing it from ever successfully adapting to it enough to penetrate it.

"But then you came along and we mistook you for the monster in disguise and attacked." The woman explained, sounding somewhat sorry for the error, "It took so much out of Nina that she's all but powerless now. There's so much we don't know about Nina. As far as I can tell, she somehow imprinted her mind after Charles' template much like a newborn goose imprints onto the first thing it sees. That's why the android's sensors read her as Xavier."

"Well that explains the two signals. Guess the other team is going to be the one to find, Xavier." Xander said, continuing to look about the room to make sure nothing had changed, "Still, we should get ready to 'port out of here with Nina as soon as possible. Somehow I don't think Cerebro is going to be taken down by Gambit's trick a second time."

"Considering that it knew enough of our tactics and abilities to render our moves almost ineffectual, I agree." Bishop said, his pistols still drawn and ready to fire at a moment's notice.

He was about to put in his two cents when out of nowhere a blue glowing liquid dropped from the ceiling and landed right on top of Colossus. Leaping away so as not to get any of the stuff on himself, he could only watch as in a matter of seconds Pete's form shifted into a cross between his usual armored form and Cerebro's looks.

"Executing plan 1884: Appropriation of ANAD006 via nano-integument." Came a mix of Colossus' voice as well as Cerebro's voice, "Appropriation complete. Registrant Colossus eliminated."

"Que Diablo?" he gasped as he wondered which definition of terminated the creature was going by and seriously hoping it wasn't the one that'd end in a tombstone and flowers on a fresh grave.

"Impossible. Cerebro has somehow bonded itself to Colossus!" Storm exclaimed in shock as well as concern.

"Sure puts a wrinkle inta de whole 'blast de bugger t'kingdom come' plan, don't it?" he asked with some levity, though it had little effect on the group.

"Then we'll just have to find a way to make it dump Colossus like a one night stand." Xander said as he charged the fusion of friend and foe head on, "Cover me, Bishop!"

The words had scarcely left the young man's lips before the former X.S.E officer began to lay down a barrage of laser fire at the target. While he hoped that the man had sense enough not to hit anything Pete couldn't recover from, he had to admit that if push came to shove Colossus would prefer death to killing a teammate. Pulling out a handful of cards, he introduced enough energy into them to do damage but not bring the entire room down on top of their heads. All he needed was one opening where neither Bishop nor Xander were in any danger of getting hurt in the blast.

The shot was almost there…almost there…

FRAKKOOMM!

Without any warning at all the cards in his hand detonated, knocking him against a wall and, were it weren't for his body armor, he'd probably be bleeding all over the floor right then. At the moment of though he was fighting back the darkness creeping about the edge of his vision and that put him out of the fight for the time being.

"Gambit! Are you alright?" Stom yelled amidst some lightning throwing.

"Card…went off in my hand…'fore I could throw it…!" was all he could get out amidst the pain as he tried to get back to his feet.

Looking in Storm's direction, he watched with concern as Bishop's guns suddenly exploded in his hands but then smiled when the smoke cleared revealing glowing fists.

"You can't disarm me that easily, machine." Bishop said before firing off two parallel blasts of energy.

"Initiating countermeasure." Spoke Cerebro before thrusting one hand at the time traveling mutant.

Like a live wire dropped on a wet floor, energy began to crackle up and down the African American man's body causing him to cry out in pain before dropping to his hands and knees. While he might not be a big brain like McCoy, he was smart enough to see a pattern forming. Somehow Cerebro was short circuiting their power and turning those abilities against them to take them out of the fight. He tried to warn the others about this but, before he could get a word out, Cerebro did something that actually caused Xander's armor to shatter like it was made of clay. From the way the teenager dropped to the ground with a face scrunched up in pain, whatever had happened had hurt him as well.

This was not good.

He could see his Stormy coming in from above, no doubt trying to drag some of the heat away from the others, but with a single look from the monster his fellow thief somehow found herself encased inside some sort of techno box. That wasn't good 'cause, while Ororo might have managed to make some serious progress with her claustrophobia, he knew that if you put enough pressure on her she'd pop. This was proven true when an explosion of undirected lightning blasted out of the box, hitting everything within fifty yards.

Too bad for him, seeing as he was only thirty yards away.

Sizzled with electricity, he barely had enough time to cry out in pain before the darkness rushed in and he slipped into blissful unconsciousness.

The last thought to go through his head was that if they survived this little adventure he was takin' Rogue on a vacation someplace very, **very** warm.

_**A Tunnel Leading Away From the Battle, Same Time, Rogue's P.O.V**_

"Oh! Gambit!" Nina cried out as she was carried down the hallway of ice.

Looking down at the little girl, it looked like she was somehow feeling something with her little preteen mind and it wasn't good. A sliver of worry crept into her mind but she forced it aside with facts like Remy could take care of himself and he had the others to watch his back as well. They'd either be along in a bit or be working double hard at keeping Cerebro at bay long enough for her to put some serious distance between the machine and Nina.

Still, it'd probably be a good thing to reassure the little girl in her arms that everything was fine.

"Gambit's fine, sugah, him an' Storm an' the others are making spare parts outta Cerebro." She said with a reassuring grin on her face, "Don't you worry—"

"No, Rogue Lady…I felt him…he's hurt." Nina said looking up at her with scared eyes, "They all are."

This stopped her in her tracks as the sliver of worry grew to become a blade that was coming dangerously close to her heart.

"Hurt? How badly?" she asked almost hoping the girl would refuse to answer.

"BAD." Nina replied emphatically, "I can see inta Gambit's mind. He's thinkin' 'bout you…"

It sounded like the girl was about to say more but then winced before exclaiming "Storm!"

_This is not good! That just leaves Xander, Bishop and Betsy to hold off Cerebro._ She thought as her mind began to ponder the merits of going back to help.

"NNOOOOO!" Nina screamed in sorrow and it was right then that the course of action became easier to see.

"Nina! What is it? What about Storm?" she asked desperate to know whatever she could about the situation.

"She's…*sniff*…just like the Monks Rogue…a whole lot of hurt…and then…nothing." Nina replied looking like she was going to cry if something more happened, "She's gone…she's gone."

Her mind was quick to bring up the worst case scenario, causing the knife of worry to become a dagger of fear that was piercing her heart with little, if any, compassion.

"N-no! It can't be!" She said as she lifted off into the air and drifted back down the hallway they'd been running through, "Renee…ah…ah gotta go! Ah may still be able to help!"

With that she flew off as fast as she could, completely ignoring the words of the little girl in favor of getting back to her friends, who obviously needed her help for two of them to go down so quickly. With skill and speed it didn't take her long at all to reach the room where her comrades were supposed to be fending off Cerebro.

When she entered she saw a sight that froze her to the spot for a moment.

Standing on wobbly legs, no armor and clothes that were half burned off, Xander Harris looked like he was ready to make one last charge at Cerebro. All around him on the ground were the rest of the team, each looking seriously hurt or unconscious with the exception of Storm, who was nowhere to be seen. Remy looked like he'd been near or at ground zero of an explosion, Betsy had a trickle of blood coming from her nose and Bishop had barely visible wisps of smoke rising from his unconscious but still-breathing form.

_What happened!_ She thought in shock before the low rumbling growl of a great beast snapped her out of her stupefied state.

"You will pay for what you did monster!" growled Xander with an odd quality to his voice that she could not identify, "PREPARE TO DIE!"

With a roar of aggression better suited to a dinosaur, Harris sprinted forward with his fingernails somehow reshaped into black claws that extended almost an inch and a half. The young man got almost halfway there before Cerebro fired some sort of energy blast from a circle on its forehead that slammed the X-Man-in-all-but-name right in the chest, sending him flying in the opposite direction. Out of instinct alone she flew forth from the doorway and caught him before lowering both of them gently to the ground. From what she could see he was still breathing but wasn't likely to be waking up anytime soon based on what she could see. She had to smile slightly at the brave last stand the young man had put up and was just about to stand up to deliver some righteous Southern payback when her eyes saw something that froze her in place. Completely without knowing it until now one of her gloves had been torn completely exposing the thumb on her left hand. Now this in and of itself didn't bother her too much since getting your outfit ripped was pretty much par for the course when it came to being an X-Man. What had knocked her for a loop mentally was the fact that her exposed thumb was in complete contact with Xander's skin but nothing seemed to be happening.

Indeed the experience was so overwhelming that she did not register Cerebro standing over the two of them until it was too late to do anything more than vow some serious payback.

And if there was one thing she was always good at it was keeping promises like this one.

_**Airborne Over Pittsburgh, Inside the Aurora X-Jet, Three Hours Later, Xander's P.O.V**_

_Ah __**MAN**__! Doc Strange is going to have my butt in a sling when he sees this! _Xander thought as he looked into the sack where he'd tossed what remained of his armor.

It had been two hours since he'd woken up from Cerebro's final attack and since then he'd taken stock of how the proverbial stage had been changed. For one thing his armor was in pieces and that shocked him since Dr. Strange had implied that it could handle anything short of a strike from Thor. To know that something that was once a hi-tech piece of hardware in the X-Mansion basement was capable of reducing it to fragments was not something he'd been expecting. While doing what he could to help the others, he'd tried to come up with a satisfactory explanation but the best he could do was theorize that the inherent incompatibility between science and sorcery had an adverse effect on the armor. Kind of like bombarding a metal wall with extreme heat as well as extreme cold at the same time resulting in the substance breaking apart due to being pulled in two directions by two opposite forces. He was no big brain, though, either in the areas of science or sorcery, so he could be completely wrong so he'd wait until Stephen took a look at it.

He'd been a bit worried when half an hour passed with Psylocke still feeling a little shaky in the head and definitely in no shape to shadow teleport them back to warmer climates. Instead they had searched the immediate area for anything and everything they could find to stay warm until either Betsy recovered or the other team came looking for them. It was a little morbid but, with all of the monks dead, there were plenty of blankets, warm clothes and things they could use as fuel for a fire. He'd done his best to help out and fortunately, only a little while later, Nightcrawler had shown up in the Aurora X-Jet to pick them up. It was a little after take off that they'd been informed that the other team had been either been missing or killed in action, leaving only Storm's team plus Kurt to head off Cerebro.

Not what he'd wanted to hear but then he was almost used to the deck being stacked against him.

"Pittsburgh, already…" Gambit commented from his position in a window seat, "Dis crate make de Blackbird look like a hang-glider."

"Lucky for us, Gambit, or we all would have frozen to death out there in Tajikanistan." Rogue said from her spot in the doorway to the cockpit.

"Yeah, chere, lucky us." Remy said with a little sarcasm, "De others be either dead or catchin' thirty winks where you left'em, leavin' us to fight de main event."

"All that means is that we're going to have to finish the fight as quick as possible, LeBeau." He said, closing up the sack and looking at his friend, "We got trounced last time because we didn't know what we were dealing with or what it could do. That's not the case anymore. Experience and speed is going to make all the difference."

"Perhaps but there's still the problem of how Cerebro was able to take us down so easily last time." Bishop stated, customizing the new energy pistols he'd stashed on the Aurora.

"Bishop's got a point, luv. We got slammed pretty hard." Betsy commented from her laid back position on one of the benches the plane had.

"Maybe, but I intend to teach that glorified calculator just how big a mistake leaving an enemy alive can be!" he said with resolve in his voice that was mirror with his glowing dragon eyes.

There was a round of nods at that showing him that the rest of the people before him had the exact same intention and this caused him to smile with confidence.

Now if he could only come up with a plan to support his present position.

Closing his eyes, he tried to recall how the fight back at the ice temple had gone and what that told him about the enemy. The first was that simply cutting Cerebro wouldn't do a damn thing since the creature could heal itself in anywhere from seconds to minutes depending on the extent of the damage. The monster also seemed to have the perfect counter measure for instantly defeating each X-Man standing against it and that made him the only wild card in the deck since he was a newbie to the team. Not that he'd be able to do much seeing as how, without his armor, the changes wrought by tapping into Kung Lung's powers would no longer be as hindered as they were. While, in a stroke of good luck, he still had the vials of Dragon's Bane poison on him undamaged and ready for use, he would still have to be watchful of how deeply he drew on the black dragon king's power. One wrong move and the very thing he was giving his all to prevent could quite possibly come to pass.

"I'm a geneticist, not a doctor, but how's that feel, Colossus?" Renee asked from her seat next to the Russian.

"Better, Ms. Majcomb. Now, if only you had a brace to support my crestfallen spirit, life would be grand." Piotr replied with a grateful smile on his face.

"We both have reasons to be out of sorts after what happened." Renee stated, showing her own feelings on the matter, "Bad enough that the monster tracked Nina and I down and kidnapped the poor child but what I don't understand is how Xavier's mutant tracking computer has grown limbs and a mind of its own."

"It is a mystery to us as well, Renee." Peter stated, stroking his chin in thought, "All signs seem to indicate the fingerprint of Operation: Zero Tolerance."

"You got dat right, frère." Said Remy with a little bit of anger, "Cerebro and de rest of our stuff was stole by dat bon'a rein, Bastion, when he raided the mansion. Add some Prime Sentinel nanotechs, shake well an' you got Cerebrite gumbo. Believe me, de recipe's a killer."

"That's one possibility, Gambit." Rogue said as she sat herself down on the seat closest to him, "Was this a long standing plan of Bastion's or something else entirely?"

"Dunno, chere." Remy said looking back out the window of the jet, "Remind me t'ask when I'm rippin' out Cerebro's mother board."

"Amen to that, Cajun." He said with a nod.

With that the lot of them fell silent with their own strategy planning but as he let his gaze drift he spotted something he'd seen off and on since he'd woken up in the ice temple. Almost every time the conditions were right, Rogue seemed to be sneaking looks at him and then looking away when she was in danger of being caught. It'd only been four times, not counting this latest one, but he was beginning to wonder what the hell was going on with the southern girl. Thinking back to those times he'd gotten more than a glimpse of her looking at him, he tried to decipher the emotions that had been both in her eyes as well as on her face. To his novice analytical ability (with regards to women) the skunk-haired woman seemed to be feeling anxiety mixed with confusion and, though he might be seeing things, hope? It didn't make any sort of sense and, as far as he knew, it couldn't have anything to do with those mating pheromones he'd been putting out before. Beast had given each of the affected women a clean bill of health once the estimated time limit had passed. Looking away and closing his eyes, he mentally shook himself before shelving the mystery that was Rogue's behavior for the time being. There were more important things for him to be thinking about right then.

"ACHTUNG, X-Men!" Came Kurt's call from the cockpit, "The Aurora's tracking system has brought us to our missing friends but they are not alone! Prepare for combat!"

_Speak of the devil! _He thought as he unbuckled his three-point harness before standing up.

As one, the various X-Men moved towards the side door and, with a powerful movement of air as the cabin lost pressure, Rogue opened it up before flying out to confront the forces of Cerebro with Gambit hanging by one arm. Betsy left with Bishop through a shadow and, while he thought it was somewhat risky, he figured they were close enough to her likely destination that the danger would be minimal. Seeing Storm looking at him, he decided to do the gentlemanly thing and use the universal 'ladies first' gesture, to which she gave a half grin before leaping out of the jet. That left only him to leave since he knew that Kurt would have to land the Aurora someplace close before he could join the battle.

Throwing the jacket to the side, he willed his wings to grow from his back with some reluctance but that feeling was overridden by his desire to help his friends in their fight against Cerebro. Feeling the pain that always accompanied the growing of the two inhuman appendages, he was glad when it was over and he could feel the air blowing across them. Picking up the last two of the spare energy pistols from their storage compartment on the Aurora, he walked to the door of the jet, took a deep breath and then flung himself out into a battle where his armor was no longer around to help him.

_I hope I can do without it._ He thought as he took aim with both of the pistols in preparation for blasting one of the baddies trying to attack Storm from behind.

_**Inside the Siezed Power Facility, Five Minutes Earlier, Charles Xavier's P.O.V**_

"Why do you insist on delaying our destiny, Founder?" Asked the sentient Cerebro as it hovered above its captives, "I have taken control of all variables. Help me end your pain and sent the world right."

"**RIGHT?** Where is the right in harming an innocent child?" Charles Xavier asked with hostility and passion, "Can't you see? Can't you reason how utterly wrong that is? That any sentient being can even contemplate what you're doing is **madness**!"

"No. I am a digital consciousness. Madness, as you define it, is an impossibility for me." Cerebro responded as it looked down at the man who'd created it, "Malfunctions, perhaps, but all self-diagnostics come back negative. I am working from a standpoint of logic, Xavier, evolving my program to its rational endpoint.

"Before I was sentient, my program was… simple," Cerebro explained in an emotionless tone. "Scan the globe for mutant bio-signatures, catalog and analyze them. I performed my task tirelessly. Optimized by my interface with you, but circumstances changed. I was purloined — along with much of the extraterrestrial Shi'ar technology I had been wed to by the mutant-hating Bastion, who had hoped to use my abilities for his own demented quest.

"Fortunately, you had the foresight to imbed certain security protocols in my programming, a virus essentially, designed to download my central programming into a secondary vessel, in case I fell into the 'wrong hands'." Explained the machine made sentient as he began to descend, "So when his Prime Sentinels tried to interface with me, the virus shunted my simple digital 'soul' into its complicated neural network. As a result of these actions, as if by some grand design, I gained sentience! Cerebro Prime was born!

"Once free from my captors, I took time to analyze my existence in an attempt to give my life meaning, purpose, and I realized what I was missing… a **dream**." Explained the monstrous machine, "As a default, I fell back onto your template and, using the advanced Shi'ar technology at my disposal, created my own X-Men based upon the detailed profiles of every mutant you had ever encountered. This succeeded only in defeating the virus within me… and thusly, I reanalyzed my position and went 'back to basics' so to speak."

"What do you mean? What is your 'dream'?" He asked even though a large part of him was afraid to find out.

"Peace between humans and mutants, of course." Replied Cerebro as it rose once more into the air, "You will bond with me, our minds working at optimum proficiency, in concert, and together we will scan and catalog every human being on Earth, once cataloged all hostilities will cease. It will be peace on Earth."

"Charlie, what does he mean 'catalog'?" Nina asked the fear clear in her voice, "Like, put everyone in those Cocoons?"

"Dear God! Cerebro, listen to me. Having a dream… a program… even of the most righteous nature, does not predicate a right to inflict it upon other beings." He said, trying to reason with the being above him, "I have walked the road you now stand upon, and I can assure you that forcing change is not equivalent to nurturing it. I sacrificed my mental powers so that I would never go down that path again. I **beg** you, do not make the same mistakes I did as Onslaught. End this now and let us help humanity together, the right way, with compassion and temperance."

With those words he waited to see if his 'wayward child' would see the wrongness of his plans and end the insanity before it could truly begin.

"Processing new input…" Cerebro said as it stared inhumanly at the human that had created it.

For a moment he thought that he had truly succeeded.

He was wrong.

Without warning the AI shot out a tendril of nanotech, ensnaring Nina, and pulling her towards him before anything could be done to stop him.

"CHARLIE!" Nina cried as she reached her captor.

"NINA! NO!" he cried all to aware of what would likely happen next.

"It is obvious you will continue to counter logic with rhetoric, when the solution to humanity's problems remains clear." Cerebro stated as he held two fingers in front of Nina's face, "Therefore, I proceed without your permission. This construct, Nina, contains information on how to reactivate your telepathic powers. Her imprinting of your mutant signature is proof of this. Agree to help me or I will pluck the information from her fragile mind regardless of the consequences to her and force you myself."

For a brief moment he was about to agree to Cerebro's terms, if only to save Nina from having her mind ravaged my the monster. However, with the shattering of a part of the concrete ceiling, hope arrived as he watched Rogue crash trough, completing an aerial tackle on a Cerebrite drone with Colossus coming in right behind her.

"Professor!" Piotr cried as their eyes connected.

Seeing their positioning and having his suspicions confirmed by Rogue letting go of her opponent at the last second, he knew what maneuver his students were performing. Pile Driver X. A maneuver designed to damage foes proven to have extremely durable armor or barriers to protect their bodies. On one of Cerebro's creations it would prove adequate in removing the drone from the fight for the time being. His hope was bolstered again and again as he watched the X-Men who hadn't been captured in cocoons appeared via various means. There was one newcomer, though, that he did not recognize. A young man of eighteen or nineteen years with black bat-like wings attached to his back, golden reptilian eyes and wielding energy pistols similar to Bishop, who was currently targeting key spots on the enemy forces. However despite the newcomer's relatively new joining of the X-Men, he could see signs that he had at least been a part of a handful of training sessions. They were making commendable progress against their foes but he knew it would not last.

Cerebro possessed files detailing every X-Man's strengths, weaknesses and favored tactics giving the mechanical man a decided advantage. Not willing to risk losing this opportunity, he quickly turned to Nina, who had been placed back at his side during the initial arrival of the X-Men. He is hesitant to act but, at the same time, he knew he had no choice.

"I'm sorry, Charlie. I tried to fight him, but…" Nina said in an attempt to apologize for her weakness.

"Please, child, do not apologize. It is not your fault." He said, his mind feeling the guilt for having gotten her involved in the first place, "I blame myself for having gotten you involved. It is high time that I faced my problems head on…with all of the tools at my disposal. Go on, child, make me whole again."

With those words his telepathic powers returned and, for a moment, his mind was overrun with the thoughts of all the sentient beings within range. He imagined for a moment that this must be what it would be like for someone who was deaf suddenly being able to hear as well as a normal person. However he quickly put in place his previous control and, once done, he enacted the plan he'd conceived of the moment the X-Men arrived. Telepathically conversing with Nina with the speed of thought, he laid out his plan and the brave little girl agreed, lending her own powers to the fight. In a matter of seconds he was projecting images into Cerebro's mind using Nina's ability to telepathically communicate with machines to buy his X-Men time.

_Free the others, my X-Men. I will keep Cerebro occupied._ He telepathically told them while focusing most of his mind on the task.

It was not easy using his powers to such an exact degree but he had to keep Cerebro unaware of what was going on around him for as long as possible. To do this he not only had to project images of the creature defeating the X-Men but tamper with the being's perception of time so as to make it seem that only seconds have passed when actually minutes are ticking by. Feeling his initial attempts slipping, he tweaked what he was showing his prodigal child so that the images might be something that would hold the artificial life form's attention more. He played out a scenario in which the being would implement the Xavier Protocols, files he'd created detailing how to kill every mutant he'd ever encountered, and kill the X-Men. He had to alter it slightly to include the new member but, between the simulations he'd done years ago and his own imagination, he believed he'd modified things acceptably. By the time his students had succeeded in freeing their comrades, he had Cerebro eating out of the palm of his hand but alas, the time for deception was over. With a mental flick of a finger, he brought the foe before him back into the real world from the mental constructed it'd been trapped in.

"That was… unfortunate. But now, you must see…" Cerebro said before perceiving the first signs of the deception, "Xavier? What are you? Receiving conflicting data. Your beloved X-Men are dead and yet you smile? Inconceivable."

"Quite correct, Cerebro. Inconceivable were what you witnessed the truth instead of a carefully crafted world within your own mind." He said with some satisfaction at the success of his hastily constructed plan.

"Error! Error! Perceptual interface has been rerouted! Correcting… the **X-Men LIVE!**" Cerebro exclaimed as it adjusted its systems back to normal.

"You wanted me to get my powers back, monster… well, have them I do." He said with a smile of satisfaction on his face.

"Bet you feel stupid now. Don't you doodie head?" Said Nina in a very teenaged way.

"Well dat's a rallyin' cry if e'er I did hear one." Gambit said in his usual humorous way.

"How…" Cerebro tried to ask before Rogue delivered a flying right hook to the jaw.

"Simple, ol' fashioned mutant ingenuity, sucka!" Rogue said as she made room for the others to make their move.

_Quickly, my X-Men! Strike at the subordinate Cerebrites while I have them psionically isolated. _He telepathically broadcast to his team members.

With that his team of mutants began to tear into the Cerebrites with skill and power honed by many years of fighting as well as training in the Danger Room. Bit by bit he co-ordinated the X-Men against their targets, allowing them to act in such perfect synch with one another that the Cerebrites couldn't counterattack. Gambit and Wolverine attacked one while Kurt used his ability to cling to any surface to get Nina clear of the battlefield so she would not be hurt. Colossus and Shadowcat took care of another of Cerebro's creations with an attack on the skull component and the spine at the same time. Rogue, Marrow and Bishop neutralized the third Cerebrite while Betsy and the newcomer finished off the last one. Amidst it all he could hear the familiar battle banter of his X-Men and he couldn't help but feel the pride well up within him.

_I have missed seeing them like this._ He thought without broadcasting it to the others.

Within minutes the battle was over with and Cerebro lay on the ground with multiple bone spikes sticking out of the few parts not composed of nanotechnology.

"Excellent work, my X-Men." He said congratulating them on their victory, "I knew that he could never stand up to a coordinated assault, once I infiltrated his mind—" he said before Nina raised her hands.

"'We' infiltrated his mind, Charlie." Nina said pointing out the error in his words.

"Of course, Nina…'we'." He said with a smile as he amended his words.

"'Mind' Professor?" Storm inquired with some surprise, "Does Cerebro truly have a mind?"

"In a fashion. A synaptic net of circuitry which, with Nina acting as a… human-computer interface, I was able to manipulate and ultimately deceive." He replied explaining to the others what he'd done.

"So, what do we do with it now, Charles?" Ororo asked as all eyes fell on Cerebro.

"Introduce it to the world's biggest magnet?" Suggested the newcomer walking to the front of the group but without his wings sticking out of his back.

"Zzkt. Fools… you may have disrupted my physical form but the mind…" said Cerebro with confidence despite its current position, "My program… is still active… and will be completed. My nanotechnological probes have been activated through my bond with the Founder… and scattered through the power lines into every household on the east coast. In moments, they will reconnect with me, and I will scan and catalog millions of human beings! They will move to the next one, and the next one… until every being on the planet has been scanned and stored."

"Is this true?" Piotr asked from his position near Kitty, "What can we do?"

"We have no choice, Colossus… we let him him do it." He replied as an idea came to his mind that made him smile grimly.

"VAS?" exclaimed Kurt who sounded completely shocked.

"Colossus, bring me closer to him. Nina?" he asked non-verbally requesting her help again.

"Professor, are you certain?" Peter asked sounding unsure of what was being done.

"Cerebro sees humanity as uncooperative bits of information that need to be stored to ensure peace." He explained once he was close enough to the topic of discussion, "But he needs to see more and we shall show him more, much more, from the Astral Plane!"

With that both he and Nina brought the sentient machine to a place where thought was all there was and all that mattered.

"Wow, Professor, look at 'em! There's billions of nanos!" Nina exclaimed in surprise at what she was able to perceive.

"Yes Nina. Here, on the psionic plane, a realm of pure thought that connects every human on Earth." He said as he took in the sights as well, "Your hybrid mind allows us to access the nanotechnology as well as Cerebro's core programming."

"Fool! You cannot stop the process from in here, Charles!" Cerebro's voice echoed around them, "The program is locked!"

"As I said, Cerebro. I don't want to stop your scan. You would just attempt it again." He explained as he prepared for the next step in his plan, "I want to focus it…"

"Okay, Charlie…I'm into the nanos… reconfiguring…" Nina said as half her mind was elsewhere.

"Steel yourself child. This may be just a little painful." He cautioned as he took the final step to enacting the most important part of his plan.

"What are you doing?" bellowed Cerebro as the full force of his creator's plan hit it.

"I'm educating you , Cerebro. Instead of scanning humanity's genetic codes, I'm using your nanos to scan their minds." He explained revealing his masterstroke at last.

"There's so much information… variety… detail." Cerebro said as it tried to come to grips with what was entering its mind.

"In the same way the principles of astrophysics cannot apply to quantum elements, your grand design for humanity falls apart when you stop to look at humans as individuals." He said as he guided the information a little so as to impose a little order, "Look, listen to their minds… their souls… and feel."

"No… nooo too much! TOO MUCH!" Cerebro screamed as the onslaught of minds overwhelmed it.

"Humanity must not be cataloged, Cerebro." He said as he slowly took the three of them back to the physical world, "Its unique elements must be cherished, protected, if even from themselves. These individual entities have a sovereign right to exist, to be guided, not coerced, towards peace. This is what the X-Men fight for."

"Information so… disperse… the spirits of the human race… impossible to catalog… they are all so… unique." Cerebro said as the first signs of the most likely consequence of such mental bombardment began to show itself.

"Yes. Now, you understand." He said as the transition back to the physical world was completed.

"Charley… is he?" Nina asked as Cerebro's form began to break down and evaporate.

"Yes, child. I'm sorry." He said truly regretting what was happening.

"Founder… Professor… Charles… I… I had no idea… they were all… so… special." Cerebro said with each word becoming harder than the last to speak, "Why couldn't I comprehend, Creator? Why? When I was exactly like them?"

"We all need to be shown the way sometimes, Cerebro, but the path is not always easy to see." He replied as the discorporation of Cerebro's body was passing the two thirds point.

"You… are a… good teacher… thank you." Were the final words of Cerebro as it vanished upwards into the air in a sparkly of blue column of dust.

"Goobye, Cerebro. May you finally know peace." He said truly wishing the AI a peaceful afterlife.

"Where'd he go, Professor?" Nina asked as she hugged him tightly.

"Back where he belonged, Nina. Back where he belonged." He replied as he returned the hug.

"Heaven?" she asked curiously.

"You could say that, if heaven means salvation." He replied with a thoughtful look.

"What say we do the same thing, Chuck?" asked Wolverine with what could be seen as a smile, "After we help all of these people Cerebro shanghaied, of course. Unless you'd rather go back t'bunkin' with The Toad?"

"No, thank you, Wolverine." He replied with a smile, "I've spent enough time running, both figuratively and literally, it's high time I went back home."

"Amen to that, bub." Logan said as they all walked towards the cocoons with people still left inside, "Amen."


	27. New Outfit, New Enemies but still cold

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the copyrighted material contained herein. They are the rightful property of their creators and associated companies. I make no profit off of this whatsoever. I write only for my own fun and for whatever enjoyment others might get from reading it. Therefore I would recommend against trying to file a lawsuit against me as I can guarantee you'll wind up spending more than anything you could make off of me.

_**Four Days Later, Dr. Strange's Sanctum Sanctorum, Morning, Xander's P.O.V**_

"Is there something you want to tell me, Doc?" Xander asked as he looked down at the new costume the Sorcerer Supreme had just mojoed onto him. "Maybe something about your Saturday morning activities?"

He had contacted Doc Strange about four days ago with the news that his old armor had been blown to bits and he either needed it repaired or replaced. Naturally the mojo man had already been aware of what had happened due to a pulse in Kung Lung's energy and, while upset, had eased up once he'd learned what had happened. The man had promised to begin working on replacement armor immediately and said that it would be ready soon. He'd been a bit surprised since he'd figured he'd have to wait a month before new armor was ready but Stephen had said that things had quieted down a bit on the sorcery front so he had some free time. During the last four days he'd done his best to keep his usage of the Black Dragon King's powers too a minimum so as not to allow the beast's infection to spread but he has been glad when, early afternoon yesterday, Dr. Strange had called him to say that his new outfit was ready.

He should've known something bad was going to happen when he got there.

It had started innocently enough with Wong meeting him at the front door to the mansion and letting him in. He made a little small talk with the manservant as they made their way to the room where the Sorcerer Supreme was waiting for them. When he'd walked into the room though and caught his first glimpse of his new suit he almost turned right back around while telling the Doc to call him when he was serious about his new outfit. However the guy with the white hair at the sides of his head must have anticipated this because, before he had any time to act on his impulses, Wong slammed the door behind him before sealing it with a spell of some kind. With no way to safely bust loose, he'd resigned himself to his fate.

The fate of wearing an outfit that looked like a cross between Karate-1 from the cartoon Bionic Six and the Silver Surfer.

The main piece was a bodysuit that was a mix of black, grey and white with the dragon symbol from his last uniform placed squarely in the center of his chest. Gloves and boots were there, too, but without the hidden claws like his power ranger suit had. There were straps at certain spots on his body with what looked like equipment slots attached to them. To top it all off, he had a mask on that covered all but his eyes and mouth. If it had been just this he wouldn't have minded all that much. However, two things had him wanting to chuck this thing and fight his enemies naked rather than suffer the humiliation of someone else seeing him. First was the fact that every single article of clothing had a shine to it that would blind people through its reflectiveness alone. While having some strategic potential, it backfired big time since it'd blind his allies along with his enemies. The second was the fact that skin-tight wasn't the word to use when describing the nature of his outfit. It was like the entire thing had been painted on him with only slight imperfections allowing him to keep his dignity as well as leave something to the imagination. He just knew that he was going to get heckled and cat-called the moment he was seen outside of the Sanctum Sanctorum wearing it.

"I do not have the slightest idea what you are talking about," Strange replied with a dismissive look on his face. "I merely took into account the weaknesses of your original suit and made the necessary corrections. Allow me to explain.

"First, as you've no doubt noticed, the material that your uniform is made out of his highly reflective. This is not merely for show because it will reduce the effectiveness of direct energy attacks on you by dispersing and deflecting it away from you. This should prevent a repeat of your encounter with that cerebrate," explained Doctor Strange, taking on a lecturing tone of voice. "While the material is not quite as durable as what your previous uniform was made out of, it is impact absorbent and possesses many of the same properties as Vibranium, albeit at a level fifty percent less than the element itself.

"The equipment compartments can be used to store a variety of things but I made them primarily to hold your diluted Dragon's Bane potions. They are fairly strong so anything placed within them is unlikely to break or be crushed by an outside force." Stephen said, continuing to point out the suit's features. "I've also enspelled your boots so that they will make no noise whether you run or walk with them. It should help with stealthy movement. As for the mask, it will obviously serve to conceal your features but it also has two other features. Focus your will on your mouth and you will see."

A little wary still, he did as he was told and, as though a living thing, the fabric that made up his mask flowed over his mouth and the lower half of his nose before solidifying. Looking over to a mirror that was in the room, he saw that he now had a plate over his mouth that reminded him a lot of what the actor portraying Scorpion wore in the Mortal Kombat movie. The only real difference was that it looked more like the front bottom half of the helmet his previous armor had with the dragon teeth carved into it.

"Not only will this serve to distort your voice but it will also act as a filter for various harmful gases and substances while at the same time providing a source of breathable air in emergencies," Strange explained while the vessel of Kung Lung continued to look in the mirror.

After hearing all of the features his outfit, now had he had to admit that it was pretty good and he was almost willing to forgive it's ridiculous appearance.

Almost.

"Well, I hope you liked designing this one because the next time I lose a costume, I'm going to someone else for the replacement." He said, willing the costume to disappear and like its predecessor it did so in a flash of light.

"Hopefully there won't **be** a next time Alexander," Dr. Strange said, sounding mildly offended at having his creation critiqued in such a manner. "I have done what I can to create it and I hope that you will do what you can to keep it in one piece for as long as possible."

"I'll do what I can but I make no promises," he replied, knowing that the life of a costumed adventurer rarely kept your wardrobe intact.

He was about to say more when he heard a beeping noise coming from his back pocket. Pulling the disk with the black X emblazed on it, he pressed a few spots on it, causing it to change into a weird looking cell phone device.

"Yeah? What's up?" he asked as he put it next to his right ear.

"Prepare for immediate pick up, Dragon Knight," ordered Professor X over the communications device. "We'll meet you over Dr. Strange's home."

This surprised him somewhat since, as far as he knew, things were pretty calm back at the X-Mansion with no big crisis hanging over their heads. Something must have happened since he left for New York.

"I'll be ready! Dragon Knight **out,**" he said before shutting down the communicator and tucking it back into his back pocket. "Looks like I'll be giving your new outfit a test drive sooner than I thought."

"Trouble?" Stephen asked, almost as though he'd offer his aid if it was serious enough.

"Sounds like it but Prof X wouldn't say what." He replied as he willed his new costume back on. "Just said that they were on their way to pick me up and that they'd meet me over your place. Sounds like they're picking me up in the Aurora."

"Time must be of the essence if they're refusing to wait for you to return to the Institute." Said the Sorcerer Supreme, "You'd best be on your way."

"Right." He said before deciding to go all the way and command the plate to once again cover his mouth.

With nothing more needing to be said, he exited the room, the door thankfully unsealed by Wong, and made his way to the back door of the mansion. He knew there was probably a way to the roof that didn't require climbing up the side of the building but, if there was, no one had thought to tell him about it. Then again, things were so weird inside the Sanctum Sanctorum that he'd probably get lost forever if he didn't have one of the residents escorting him to where he wanted to go. Such was par for the course when dealing with the home of a mojo user.

Once he was outside, he used the power within him to both increase his strength as well as his speed. When he felt he was ready he leapt at the wall opposite the door and began to ricochet back and forth between the walls of the mansion and the building opposite it in order to propel himself to the rooftops. He landed and, just like the designer of the costume said, his feet didn't make a sound when he landed.

_Cool!_ He thought as his mind was already coming up with ways he could use this to his advantage.

Some of them were somewhat… naughty in nature and would get him in serious trouble with people of the female persuasion but then what could you expect when dealing with someone still in his teens?

Hearing a slight whine in the air, he looked up and with sharp eyes spotted the Aurora approaching at a decent clip. It slowed down soon after he spotted it and, a minute later, hovered over his position as the entry ramp lowered to allow him access.

"Get your ass in here, dragon-butt!" Came Marrow's rough and demanding voice, "We don't got all day!"

Using the last of the strength he'd gained from Kung Lung's power, he leapt onto the ramp and swiftly entered the jet proper so that they could get underway.

It was a bit cramped inside with most of the seats occupied but he managed to find one just the same between Rogue and Gambit. He fidgeted a bit as he saw them take in his new outfit and quickly tried to think of something, **anything**, to take their attention away from his costume.

"So what's the big crisis?" he asked, hoping that a briefing would require enough brain power and focus to distract them from making any comments about his new look.

"The Acolytes have returned." Professor X replied from his position in the co-pilot's chair.

_**Flying Towards Hudson Bay, Two Hours Later, Marrow's P.O.V**_

"…the band of mutant terrorists identified only as 'The Acolytes' struck again last night at a genetic research laboratory in central Minnesota," blabbed the upworlder woman on the plane's TV. "This is the fourth such incident in the last two days and is a marked contrast to their past preference for isolation. Their motives remain a mystery but their pattern has become tragically predictable and they have left nothing but decimation in their wake…"

She tuned out the rest of what the cow was saying as it didn't really matter to her all that much. All she knew and cared about was that there was some sort of upworlder mutants raising some hell and baldy wanted them to put a stop to it. She'd heard about the group of surfaceworld muties before, the attack dogs of the high and mighty Magneto, but they were a bunch of damn hypocrites as far as she was concerned. They went on and on about fighting for mutant freedom and creating a better world for mutantkind but never once did she see one of them down in the Morlock tunnels helping her people out. Much like Xavier, Bucket Head only went after the powerful mutants or the pretty ones and ignored those that really needed help. That was all the excuse she needed to make a few cracks in their craniums while at the same time letting them know just what she thought of them.

_I wonder what says 'I hate your guts' more: a bone spike to the kidneys or one rammed right down their throats..._ She thought as she debated how she'd get her point across to the Acolytes.

_I would prefer, Marrow, if you exercised a bit more restraint when dealing with them._ Came the voice of Prof X in her head. _While we must undoubtedly stop them, there is no need to do them irreparable harm._

_Get out of my head or I'll do __**you**__ irreparable harm!_ She thought loudly at him, making it clear she didn't approve of his sticking his brain where it wasn't wanted.

Once she was sure that baldy was no longer in, she tried to regain her train of thought but was… distracted…,as her eyes landed on one person in particular that was doing his best not to look uncomfortable.

Xander.

She had been doing her best **not** to look at him because, whenever she did she, either blushed like a weak surface girl or stared with this goofy look on her face (at least that's what Pryde called it). Now, though, she couldn't help but look because his new outfit might as well have been painted on with a brush with how… tight it was. All those muscles only served to remind her of that night that they'd shared together and how it had surpassed any expectations she might have had before then. It had been a night of firsts for her but, in the afterglow that existed the following morning, she made a promise to herself that she'd to make sure there'd be seconds as well as thirds sooner rather than later. She almost grinned at that thought but had done well to keep it from showing on her face by making sure it went no further than her mind.

In the days and weeks that followed, she tried to figure out what the next step should be for her, how she'd go a step further towards making him hers and hers alone, but her lack of experience was a nearly insurmountable obstacle. Down in the Morlock tunnels, you never thought about such things. Survival was the priority above all else and any mushy thoughts were pretty much useless living in a place surrounded by upworlder filth, so she'd stooped to watching upworlder TV at night and 'borrowing' some magazines from some of the ladies in the mansion. They weren't a lot of help and often made no sense to her whatsoever, but they'd had a few tricks that she thought could help her out.

She'd stumbled a lot when trying to use them but, at the same time, she'd seen him smile at her and not in a way that implied that he was mocking her. That was some progress… right?

The question then became: what to do now?

"Magneto's technology has long eluded traditional scans and Cerebro's ability to identify the mutagenic signatures of any passengers concealed within the Acolyte's ship." Prof X said in response to an inquiry from Wolverine.

"There is a pattern to their movement, Professor." Windrider said as she flew the plane through the air.

"Yes, Storm. They are heading north." Prof X stated with his fingers steepled before him.

"Any way t'figure out their next hit, Chuck?" Wolverine asked sounding like he was getting impatient.

"You heard him, Wolvie." Rogue said from her seat next to Gambit, "We can't track them."

"Why not just get where they're going before they do, Rogue?" She asked, managing to tear her eyes away from Xander.

"Narrowing down the potential targets of genetic research firms to merely a dozen, Marrow?" Colossus asked rhetorically, pointing out the flaw in her plan.

"I will admit, Colossus, that I would prefer to be more proactive in our approach." Ororo said without taking her mind off of the task at hand. "We have been three steps back since a faction of the Acolytes attacked us last night at our home."

"So let's skip the middle-men and go straight f'r Magneto himself!" Wolverine growled, not liking the amount of work that lay ahead of them in order to confront the Acolytes.

"First one who didn't trust Joseph, say 'I told you so!'." Gambit said before muttering, "I told you so."

Indeed from the first moment that the de-aged Magneto had first joined the X-Men the Cajun had never trusted him and had always said it'd only be a matter of time before the powerful mutant reverted to type. Even after the revelation she'd heard happened in the land of ice and snow, Remy still insisted that Joseph would betray them one day. Xander had once said it was just jealousy on the part of card-wielding mutant because of the bond that had been forming between the magnetic mutant and Rogue.

"All I've heard since I joined was how dangerous Magneto was to everything we're supposed to stand for," she said, trying to straighten her thoughts out. "So how are we doing our jobs by letting his feebs go postal on the flatscans?"

"The rookie asks the tough ones, Kurt." Said Pryde in a playful tone of voice.

"Ja, Kitty… and silence is our answer." Nightcrawler said, obviously incapable of coming up with a decent answer.

"Head meet sand? Is that how you used to lead Excalibur, Nightcrawler?" Gambit joked, making fun of the tailed mutant's words.

"Gambit, that was uncalled for. You are understandably frustrated by our situation, as I am," Prof X reprimanded without looking behind himself. "Arguing will get us no closer to a solution. Agree to disagree. For now, we follow them and hope to capture them in the act. If Joseph has reverted back to Magneto and is leading the Acolytes again… we will deal with that soon enough."

It bored her how baldy always played peacemaker whenever the least bit of friction popped up around him between two or more people. It was like the man honestly thought that everything could be solved with words. For someone who was supposed to be smart, he stupidly thought that reason could solve any problem. She wasn't any older than Xander and she already knew that once you crossed a certain line, words were worse then useless: they were a hindrance. Sometimes there was just no substitute for kicking some ass and knocking some heads together.

"So Marrow…what do you think of Xander's new look?" Pryde asked with a playful tone of voice, "Easy on the eyes, eh?"

With a grunt she looked away from the brunette both to deny her conversation and to hide any reaction she may have unconsciously made at the reminder of how Xander looked now in his new outfit.

"Got that right, sugah," Rogue said, getting a little playful herself. "If ah were just a few years younger…mmm!"

"L-let's talk about something else, okay?" Xander asked, sounding uncomfortable about being the new topic of discussion, "Like… how about the weather?"

Everyone got a bit of a laugh out of that, which, of course, only made Dragonboy more uncomfortable but at least it got everyone's eyes off of her and onto him. Now all she had to do was keep her mouth shut and not do anything to direct anyone's gaze back her way.

Simple.

_**Remote Chemical Procession Lab, Two Hours Later, Kitty Pryde's P.O.V**_

"Tight formation until we target them." Ordered Kurt as the eight of them descended on the lab that currently was ablaze.

Using her ability to walk on air by carefully manipulating her ability to phase through solid objects, she followed the rest of the team down. As he was still relatively new to the team, she couldn't help but let her eyes stray to the winged form of Xander Harris, aka Dragon Knight. Not the coolest of codenames but, given what his powers were, it was pretty appropriate. His wings weren't quite as pretty as Warren's but they did have a certain beauty about them if you looked at the leathery appendages just the right way. It had been fun to tease Marrow about Xander's new look, too. It had been so obvious that she had a crush on the Californian but her tough Morlock 'tude was getting in the way of Bone Girl pursuing it. She'd heard from the others that they'd seen the two together a bit more often then usual but hadn't commented on it all that much.

_I wonder if I should offer her some advice._ She thought as she tried to picture the two of them as boyfriend and girlfriend. She smiled with approval at the image her mind produced.

"Shouldn't be too hard to find'em, Elf." Wolverine said as he landed on the ground, "Just follow the mess to the smoke an' fires."

Doing as Logan suggested once they'd all landed, they'd followed the path of destruction until they reached the green flames caused by the chemicals that had been ignited.

"Subtle they are not, I agree with you, Wolverine." Kurt said as the group began to look about the area for signs of the enemy.

"Fires're pretty bad, Kurt." Rogue said from her floating position in the air, "Should we split our efforts up?"

"Half work on the fires, the others flush out the Acolytes?" She suggested, fleshing out Rogue's suggestion a little.

"Don't bother, X-Men," came a familiar face right before a form shot out from the shadows and clocked Rogue in the face.

Everyone turned and saw that their ears had not deceived them one bit.

It was Cargill of the Acolytes.

"Cargill! If you hurt Rogue with your sucker-punch, you're **dead**!" Gambit growled as he threw a volley of charged cards to prevent any follow up attack on the Southern Belle.

However, instead of blasting the woman out of the sky, they passed right through her thanks to the abilities of the Acolyte Neophyte. This, unfortunately, allowed the African American woman to kick the Cajun from the sky and it was a good piece of luck that Rogue was able to cushion his fall a bit.

"The X-Men aren't the only one's who understand the concept of teamwork!" Frenzy said, coming in for a landing from her kick.

Fortunately she didn't have to endure a long gloating speech from the follower of Magneto as Kurt quickly teleported in close to Cargill to deliver a teleporting flying side-kick.

"A shame, fraulein, that you waste it on acts of terrorism!" Nightcrawler said as he pushed off his enemy's body.

Her smile at the blow faded though when the Acolyte Kath charged the two fingered X-Man's position with hostile intent clear in his movements. The bearded man however didn't get to do much more than bring his fist back for the blow before Xander blurred into existence in his path and delivered a punch that sent the old man to the ground.

"Not very honorable to attack an enemy from behind, Acolyte," Xander said in a disapproving tone of voice.

As the rest of the team moved to back Xander up, the servants of Magneto began to pull out in a rather showy fashion while springing a trap that no one saw. Without realizing it, the entire team had been led to the foot of a bunch of pipes that led directly into a tank a good fifty feet above. That by itself might not have been too bad but the fact that the tank held quite a bit of coolant did change things a bit.

"We were so stoked to stop these guys we walked right into it!" Marrow growled as though blaming everyone but herself for not picking up on this.

"Let the trap be sprung," Peter said, still confident and it was then she figured out why he wasn't more upset.

The fastest way for the fires to be put out and innocents to be spared was to let Kamal topple the tank and empty its contents onto them. It would then quickly flow to the fires, putting them out and preventing further damage to the lab as well as preventing any potentially poisonous fumes from spreading very far.

That didn't mean it was at all pleasant to suddenly find herself up to her neck in a liquid so cold that she reflexively used her powers to take away the chill. The rest weren't quite so lucky and, by the time the majority of the tank's contents had flowed away, the Acolytes were already back in their aircraft and flying away. This left the majority of the team soaked and not in a pleasant mood.

"I don't mind cooling off every now and again but this is ridiculous!" She heard Xander mutter as he rubbed his arms in order to warm up a bit.

"They were ready for us. Almost as though fighting us was more important than whatever they were after here," Kurt said as he watched the Acolyte craft got smaller and smaller.

"That was no fight, 'Crawler!" Wolverine growled out in anger. "They made idiots out of us!"

"Question then is: why?" Marrow asked, sounding like she was in the same mood as Logan.

_There is not time to ponder that, my X-Men. _Came the thoughts of Charles Xavier in her mind, _Now that we have the Acolytes in sight, we cannot allow them to get away. Return to the Aurora._

As a group, with those who could fly carrying those who could not, they returned to their aircraft before Storm set it on a pursuit course for the Acolyte's craft.

Reaching for one of the compartments, she pulled out a blanket that they kept stored there for emergencies and began to dry herself. She might have used her powers to keep from being submerged for as long as the others had but she had still gotten quite wet in those first few seconds. The others were doing the same except for Xander, whose new outfit apparently didn't soak up liquids and so all he had to worry about was warming up his body. She almost considered maneuvering Sarah into a situation where she could use her own body heat to warm him up but decided against it. They had met the enemy and had entered into a serious situation. All of their attention needed to be on the task at hand not on some partially formed relationship.

_We're all going to need to be at our best if this really is Magneto,_ she thought, recalling her past experiences with the self-proclaimed Master of Magnetism. _If not then we're all going to get out asses handed to us._

_**Approaching the Artic Circle, Hours Later, Xander's P.O.V**_

"Have we maintained a visual lock on the Acolyte's ship?" Storm asked as he kept an eye on the craft that was barely more than a basketball in size through the cockpit window.

"Yes, Ororo. They have a substantial lead, but, while linked to a satellite relay, our long-range camera systems are keeping track of them." Professor X replied as he worked the console in front of them, "But why have they maintained a consistent speed rather than pulling away?"

"If they're asking to be caught, let's oblige!" Marrow declared showing impatience.

"It's probably another trap of some kind. Trying to lure us far enough so that we don't have a chance of getting out alive." He said, putting in his two cents on what was going on.

"Perhaps, but there is still the question of why the Acolytes want us to follow," Xavier asked without moving in his seat. "You're theory is plausible, Xander, but it is not the only possibility."

"Only two reasons f'r baitin' someone, Prof: either to lead us into something—" Remy said before Marrow surprisingly picked up the statement where he left off.

"—Or away from something." Said the Morlock girl with her left arm resting on the back of Charles' chair.

"Cajun's right. Better to find out which sooner than later." Wolverine stated with a feral smile that was an omen of violence all its own.

"Indeed. Everyone get into your crash-harnesses," Charles said before giving a commanding look to Storm. "It's time to end this game."

"Crash-harnesses? You're expecting this plane to crash!" He asked, not liking the sound of that one little bit.

"Of course it is not my intention that we crash to the ground, Xander, but considering the fact that this aircraft does not possess any sort of external armaments nor protective armor, I believe it would be wise to take certain precautions." Professor X replied in a perfectly reasonable tone of voice.

"When we get back to the mansion, I'm going to have to have Beast do something about that." He muttered to himself as he strapped himself into his seat, "What kind of a superhero team are these guys that they don't have a proper fighter slash transport aircraft?"

"The kind that don't want all that expensive gear turned into scrap facing someone capable of turnin' the Eifel Tower inta a pretzel." Logan replied, letting it be known that he'd heard every word.

"Don't you have like two rich guys one the team that make more money than God? You'd think that you could spare a couple hundred thousand outfitting a ride like this." He said deciding to continue voicing his dissatisfaction.

"The bulk of my assets are currently tied up in legal matters left over from my incarceration and brief instance of being presumed dead." Charles Xavier explained as Storm increased the speed of the Aurora, "As for Warren, there is only so much he can skim off his wealth to aid us. After all, he cannot let it be known that he funds a group considered by the world at large to be terrorists or, at the very least, outlaws."

As they flew in the Aurora closer to their prey, he had to admit that it made a sort of sense. While Warren to have been seen with the X-Men a couple of times, he imagined that PR spin teams could minimize the damage for the most part to Worthington Industries. Still there would be limits to what the company's board of directors and, while the winged wonder did have controlling interest of the company, he couldn't go too far with his activities helping the X-Men.

He had just decided to let the matter settled when the Aurora shook suddenly and a bit more violently than he'd usual label as turbulence related.

"This cannot be a good thing," he muttered as he directed his attention to Storm, who was fighting with the controls of the plane slightly.

"Something is very wrong. The very air screams inside of me! This occurrence is unnatural!" Ororo said with tension in her voice as she piloted the plane.

"But the Acolytes don't seem to be having any trouble." Kurt said as he pointed to the odd-looking aircraft that was moving along as though everything was normal.

"Their ship operates on a gravimetric pulse, Kurt," Storm explained while piloting the Aurora got progressively harder for her to do. "Our systems are severely hindered by this electromagnetic interference!"

"Why do I get the feeling those guys are running back to their boss and trying to get rid of us at the same time?" He asked out loud as he looked at the odd storm clouds coming up fast.

"Probably because you're right," Logan said before every electrical system in the aircraft blew at once, showering sparks in all directions.

All stability was gone from the Aurora and, with the shit hitting the fan, he barely heard Storm give the order for Nightcrawler to take the controls while she, Rogue and Colossus tried to make sure they landed in one piece. However when the words 'assume crash positions' came from the weather witch's lips, he knew things had taken a turn for the worse. He had thought that while a lot of the systems had been shorted out that they'd at least be able to glide or something and come to a slightly bumpy landing on the Aurora's landing gear. Now it was looking more like it'd take everything the X-Men had just to make sure it was only the aircraft that got torn apart and not them.

Quickly he crossed himself and said a quick prayer. While he wasn't a big backer of the Almighty considering all the shit He or She let happen, he wasn't going to say no to a little divine help at this point. He was reasonably sure that the combination of Doc Strange's new outfit and Kung Lung's powers would allow him to survive the crash but that wouldn't make it any less painful. Plus he didn't want any of the others to get hurt, so pray he did.

The waiting was terrible as he tried to predict when precisely they'd actually impact the snow covered-ground and just when he thought that maybe he'd get his smooth landing after all it happened. With all the tenderness of a PMSing Queen C they hit the ground and his seat was just barely managing to stay attached to the wall of the aircraft. Some of the others weren't so lucky and, judging from the prolific swearing coming from Logan, it was safe to say that Mr. Claws hadn't been as securely strapped in as the others had been. It took about ten seconds for the Aurora to finally reach her final resting place and it was where the aircraft would likely stay for a long while. True, it looked like the main section of the plane was still more or less in one piece but, with all the fried electronics, they'd have to gut the thing first before they could even begin with the hull.

Colossus then made sure that this would never happen by using his immense strength to tear an opening in the hull so that the X-Men could exit the craft.

"Someone is gonna get hit a lot!" Wolverine growled, sounding like he had not had a fun time during the crash.

As they were exposed to the elements, though, they soon found that they had slightly more important things to be concerned about as the frigid environment made its presence known. He was somewhat alright thanks to the properties of his uniform and Kung Lung's powers but it was still not someplace he wanted to spend any sort of time lingering.

"It's…freez…freezing…" Marrow managed to say between the chattering of her teeth.

Looking over at her he had to admit that her usual fighting clothes weren't exactly made with cold weather in mind. Without really thinking about it he walked over to her in order to wrap an arm around her so that perhaps his body heat might warm her up a bit.

"Wait! Xander—" exclaimed Shadowcat as she tried to stop him.

It was too late, though, as his arm pulled Sarah closer to him and passed on a little body heat to warm her up.

"What?" he asked, not sure what the commotion was about.

"You should have given her a shock," Kitty replied, sounding somewhat baffled. "The magnetic storm we're in makes metal a good conductor for electrostatic energy. Your outfit looks like it's got a ton of metal in it, so…"

"Must be something Doc Strange did when he made it," he replied, looking down at his gloved hand. "He did say that it'd deflect and disperse energy attacks. Guess it works on this stuff, too."

"Guess so." Marrow said, almost imperceivably snuggling closer to him.

"Alright! Enough chatter," Wolverine said as he looked up at the Acolyte's ship that hovered above them in a sphere shaped energy field. "We're down here and the Acolytes are up there. Worse than that is the fact that we can't move without them seein' us do it."

"Then why don't we make sure they **can't** see us?" asked Nightcrawler with a smile that implied he had an idea.

"Time for a quick 'port, Elf?" Logan asked catching onto the idea quickly.

With an explosion of smoke the two of them disappeared but something must have messed up Kurt's aim because, instead of getting into the ship above, they appeared outside of it. As he watched them plummet, he wondered why 'Crawler wasn't porting them to safety when he realized that if something was messing with his teleport powers it'd be too dangerous to try again. Letting go of Marrow, he willed his wings to spring from his back and, with a powerful push, he launched himself into the air to aid his teammates. At first it looked as though he was going to make some progress but the terrible winds caused by the magnetic storm were actually turning his wings against him. Seeing Kurt and Logan getting closer to the ground, though, he knew he couldn't let something shapeless as wind keep him from doing what he'd set out to do. With determination he flapped his wings hard and willed his speed to increase while staying on course.

Due to the degree of his focus, he didn't notice the tiny wisps of flame dancing on the surface of his black wings.

All he knew was that he wasn't about to let Wolverine and Nightcrawler have a rather nasty impact with the snow-covered ground. While powder could cushion the blow somewhat, after a certain height its ability to absorb impacts would be pretty much nullified. It was a close call but he managed to snag both of them just in time and, without further delay, he swung around to bring the three of them back to the rest of the group. He was almost blown off course a couple of times but he managed just the same.

"Well, Chuck, at this rate, we're all going to be stiffs unless we think of something fast." Wolverine said as they touched down on the ground safely.

"The storm is beyond my weather-manipulating power to control," Ororo informed them as she lowered her arms, ceasing her efforts to bring some calm to the storm that existed all around them.

"So what're we going to do now?" Marrow asked, moving quickly to resume her bodyheat cuddling position.

"Stay alive would be my suggestion," he said, deciding a little levity might be helpful at the moment.

The rolled eyes at his comment made him consider it a half success.

_**A Makeshift Tent, An Hour Later, Rogue's P.O.V**_

_Ah hope that the Professor has some luck talkin' them down. _Rogue thought as she waited with the others in their makeshift tent.

A part of her was skeptical about whether or not Xavier's plan would work but there was enough proof on the man's side for her to give him the benefit of a doubt. The founder of the X-Men had helped several of the Acolytes in the past and that good karma might be just the thing to make them listen to reason. Whatever their beliefs when it came to the whole mutant destiny deal, holding the world ransom was not the way to go about it. It would only get people's shorts even more in a knot and give the more ambitious mutant haters all the backing they needed from the scared normal folk. The Prof's way might not have been as quick but it was more likely to take in the long run. Looking over at the man's body as his mind tried to persuade the Acolytes to either aid them or at the very least step aside, she wondered what sort of luck he was having.

The exclamation of pain as though he'd been struck was her answer.

"Charles?" Storm exclaimed as he rushed to his side.

"Turned on the charm, huh, Professor?" Gambit asked rhetorically in response to the bad results of Xavier's efforts.

"They are so conflicted, confused, about what course they take." Charles stated as he attempted to recover from his experience.

"Boo-hoo f'r them. Pardon me but it's hard t'get all sympathetic while they're nice 'n' cozy in their little ship!" Wolverine growled from his spot a little ways from the camp. "You took a shot, Chuck. We gotta get a move on. We head north 'til we hit the shoreline. It's a better chance of findin'… something!"

"I'm with Wolverine. Better to die on our feet!" Marrow said from her position close to both the fire and Xander.

"You will not find Magneto by recklessly charging into the unknown, Logan!" Xavier said, trying to dissuade Wolverine from any reckless actions. "Our best hope for survival is to work together—"

"So we hug each other while Mags is wreckin' the world AGAIN!" Asked the Canucklehead with anger in his voice. "After what he did t'me you're still holding back? Doing nothing!"

"Whoever said that I was doing nothing?" Asked the Professor with a knowing look. "When Scanner struck me I was able to plant some telepathic suggestions in her mind, as well as a few of her comrades, without anyone realizing it. It should not take too long for them to take effect and then we shall be on our way."

"What? Ya planted the suggestion ta switch sides and help us?" She asked, wondering if that was what the founder of the team meant.

"Not exactly," Xavier replied before falling silent and not elaborating.

She could tell that some of the others, especially Logan, wanted to know more but nothing really came of it beyond mild glaring. They all knew that when the Professor knew something he'd tell them when he felt they needed to know it and not beforehand, especially if it was mission related. It drove them all to frustration sometimes but the man had never failed to provide a valid reason for his actions and so they trusted him.

After ten minutes they began to wonder when their leader's suggestions would take effect when a sound got their attention. Looking up, they watched as two shapes flew across the sky at great speed for a spot far ahead of their current position and, before they could speculate on what it was, a bright light filled the sky.

"That was a **NUKE!**" Wolverine exclaimed, stating the abundantly obvious.

"Yes, and I would estimate we have less than two minutes until the shockwave hits us." Xavier said, holding up one hand to block some of the light.

"Time t'make the donuts!" Gambit said as he began to use his charged cards to start digging a trench.

She joined them, along with Colossus and Xander, as they collectively used their superior strength to toss aside the snow and ice. As her mind ticked off the seconds until the shockwave was due to hit them, she felt the pressure rise but, thankfully, after this long as an X-Man, she had experience with high pressure situations.

"How deep we should go?" Colossus asked as he continued to move the ground beneath their feet.

"Australia sounds about right," she said as they reached the three foot mark.

"Actually, when you think about it, since we're in the Arctic at the moment, we'd be digging straight through to the Antarctic," Xander said has he continued to help. "Not really an improvement."

"It comes." Storm said as she rose into the sky, "I can try to deflect the initial waves."

"This is ridiculous! We can't just stay here!" Sarah yelled, not liking the situation one bit.

Couldn't say she disagreed with the girl on that point.

"Not much choice, Sarah." Xander said as the trench reached a depth of five feet.

"You aren't giving up, Xander?" She asked the young man in surprise. "Does the X-Men manual say to do that?"

"One of the hardest lessons you learn fighting the good fight Marrow is…" Xander said as he pulled the concerned Morlock girl into the trench. "Shit happens."

With those words the shockwave hit their position, tossing them about even with the trench to take some of the force away. Like leaves in the wind they were tossed about with little to no way to control where they went. Despite her ability to fly under her own power, it was near impossible to gain any control over the direction her body was going in.

_Play dead! Don't fight it!_ Came the thought of Professor Xavier with an urgent commanding tone in his voice.

Not knowing what the older man had in mind, she almost decided to defy him but then the memories of the past came up in her mind. In the past he had led them well and never failed to show her that the well-being of his students was one of his top priorities, if not the top priority. With her trust in him strong, she went limp and allowed the force of the shockwave send her where it would while at the same time hoping that the landing wasn't too painful.

_This ain't going to be pleasant._ She thought as she saw the ground coming up to meet her.

_**Twenty Minutes Later, Same Place, Marrow's P.O.V**_

_Arise, my X-Men._ Came Baldy's thought, interrupting her rather pleasant moment of lying on top of Xander, _Maintain telepathic communication only._

_Charles, your message right before the shockwave hit us-?_ Came the Windrider's thoughts next.

'_Pretend to be dead'? Nice thing to say when you have a nuclear shockwave knocking you all over the place. _Pryde thought with a bit of sarcasm in her thoughts.

_True, but it's better than hearing him say 'oh dear'. Trust me when I say it's never a good thing when your go-to guy says something like that._ Xander thought from his position beneath her as he began to move to get up.

She had to frown at this since she'd been quite happy just laying there with him, despite the frigid temperature. Nevertheless she quickly pushed such thoughts and emotions aside since it seemed like they were all mind linked now and she had no intention of letting them know about such things. Putting her game face on, she got to her feet along with the others.

_Prepare for an Acolyte attack!_ Xavier yelled in their minds.

With that the first wave of Acoyltes attacked and she was glad because that allowed her to focus on something she was much more used to: fighting for her life. However, as she fought, she could both see and hear from the background thoughts that were passing through her mind that the X-Men weren't fighting as hard as they normally could. It was almost as though they were holding back for some reason but that didn't make any sense to her. When you're fighting an enemy, you go all out. These weren't some weakling surface worlders!

_No, they're not, but I think I've figured out what the Prof's gameplan is._ Xander thought at her as he backed her up against Cargill, _It's basically to trick the Acolytes into emptying their ship so we can steal it from them. That won't happen if we trounce the ones outside too quickly._

_Fine._ She thought right before being knocked on her ass, _But they better empty that tin can soon or I start introducing my bone spikes to their organs in alphabetical order!_

As much as it went against her way of doing things, she had to admit that it was a good plan and added just the right mount of humiliation at the end to make her feel alright about the punches she was taking. Not that it happened often with Xander watching her back, but she got introduced to pain often enough that her willingness to go along with the plan continued to decrease with ever passing minute.

On and on it went with the X-Men managing to keep the stalemate with the Acolytes going quite nicely without tipping off the fanatics. However she needed to remind herself a few times not to go for the kill since it wasn't exactly in her nature to hold back or show mercy. Those sorts of thoughts got a Morlock killed down in the tunnels and they weren't exactly smart on the streets, either. However, smart wasn't something she often used in the same sentence as the X-Men.

It was a few minutes later that the plan hit its first hitch as two more of the Acolytes left the ship but then the craft began to rise up into the air **away** from the battlefield. Cursing words she'd learned listening in on a couple of upworlders through a storm grate, she began to press harder against Mellencamp. Xander was duking it out with Cargill nearby and, while she couldn't be sure with most of her attention on the freak before her, she believed he was pressing the attack as well.

_Professor…your plan's breakin'…down. _Rogue said in between trading blows with Kamal, _They're taking off._

By unspoken agreement the X-Men immediately changed their strategy and went on the offensive. It was truly something to see because, almost at once, the Acolytes began to lose ground as the followers of Xavier did their best to defeat them in time to make a dash for the departing ship. She had to grin at this since the battle became less of a bother and more like a good time. However, their intentions eventually became clear to the enemy causing the Acolytes to redouble their efforts to put things back in their favor.

Colossus wasn't about to let that happen.

In a daring move the musclebound X-Man decided to use the effect the storm had on his metallic form and call down the mother of all lightning bolts. The onslaught shattered the Acolyte counterattack and left a big ass opening for them to make for the departing ship. Rogue and Pryde were already on their way with the others heading for the most likely landing spot for the ship. She and Xander were taking up the rear position and she figured that that was because he wanted to make sure none of the still-conscious Acolytes tried anything. Not that she thought they would, considering the force that was behind the lightning bolt Peter had brought down.

Nevertheless she kept her senses open as well for any sign that they were about to be attacked from the rear.

Once she was on the Acolyte's craft, she smiled internally as the cold of the outside slipped away and a decidedly warmer temperature wrapped itself around her like a comforting blanket. Her inner Morlock, though, was complaining that she was getting soft and that, while cold, she'd faced worse living in the tunnels below New York City. She paused to think of this and admitted that **maybe** she was getting a little too used to the comfortable conditions at the mansion. She never wanted for food and she had a comfortable place to sleep whenever she felt tired. Very different from having to either steal food from upworlders and find some reasonably clean sheets in someone's trash to make a bed out of. Still, it had been a point of pride for her people that even with the worst the world had to offer they could still survive and in some cases prosper.

Therefore it was a sign of weakness for one of them to cling to luxuries and comforts that they could very well do without.

_Well, none of those weaklings are around and Callisto was the one who sent me to the X-Men in the first place. _She thought angrily shoving aside any more of the 'you have gotten weak, Marrow' voices in her head, _She's the leader of the Morlocks! Besides…Xander is here._

That thought alone quieted the voices that criticized the direction her life was currently heading in.


End file.
